


The Sun, Half Covered

by BeccaStareyes



Series: Eclipse Trilogy [1]
Category: Slayers (anime)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Mystery, Politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-16
Updated: 2012-09-10
Packaged: 2017-11-07 20:43:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/435244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaStareyes/pseuds/BeccaStareyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zelgadis's attempts to settle down are not working well. When Amelia asks him to accompany him to the southern frontier of Saillune to investigate reports of sabotage, it certainly sounds like a breath of fresh air. What he finds is a mess of politics and bigotry, and Amelia's attempts to help are hit or miss... and starting to drive Zel nuts. The two of them must work together to find the saboteur, and hope the discovery doesn't touch off a riot in a town divided.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, boy. I started this ages ago. It might be older than my grad school career. I finally finished it for this year's [](http://casestory.livejournal.com/profile)[**casestory**](http://casestory.livejournal.com/). [Art](http://sholio.dreamwidth.org/829503.html) is by [](http://sholio.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**sholio**](http://sholio.dreamwidth.org/). Beta work done by [](http://www.insanejournal.com/users/yuuo/profile)[**yuuo**](http://www.insanejournal.com/users/yuuo/). Story may have a Zel/Amelia bias, but I think it can be read as friendship.

There was something about books, Zelgadis mused, as he tried to get his trunk closed. They were worse than rabbits. You keep putting off getting them, knowing what happens when you have more than one, but eventually, you just come to the point when you break down and buy some, and soon they've expanded to fit every bit of space you've given them, and then some. And, unlike rabbits, which can be cut down rather quickly with a butcher knife and a stewpot, books tended to stick around and make themselves useful.

Zelgadis hadn't kept books when on the road. They were heavy and bulky, and generally difficult to travel with. He had made great use of libraries, copying down pages that looked interesting. Maps, he had bought, and added his own details with pen and ink, sextant and direction spell when he veered off into 'Here Be Dragons' territory. It had actually made him a small sum of coins when he had returned to the Subcontinent -- up-to-date, accurate maps of the Outer World were rare and every youngster with a pigsticker or two-bit Flare Arrow spell thought they would find their fortune in the Outer World, and were quite willing to pay for maps and guides.

It certainly had paid for Zelgadis's textbooks and writing supplies -- and the trunk, which had closed just fine in the autumn.

He got off the trunk and knelt on the floor, checking to make sure that nothing was caught in the hinges, when someone knocked on the door. "Come in," he said. Probably a student looking for a spare cleaning rag or bucket.

"Hello, Mister Zelgadis!"

He looked up. Amelia had grown a bit since he had last seen her. She was dressed for traveling, in a pale green tunic that matched her boots and white pants, with her old cape and belt. "I just arrived this morning, and asked where you were staying," she explained.

Zelgadis stood up, and offered his hand to Amelia. "Good to see you again," he said.

"You know, this is the first time we've seen each other in person since you left Saillune, Mister Zelgadis." She grinned, taking his hand. "You haven't changed a bit. Ready to go?"

"Still packing," he replied, gesturing to the small room. He had left some of his clothing on the bed, and there was still the matter of the books. Perhaps he could leave a few in the room -- there were a few he wouldn't mind never seeing again.

"I can help," she said. "I can handle the laundry, while you finish with the books."

"You don't have to..." but she was already sliding past him, towards his rucksack and the clothing. He sat on the trunk again, this time muttering a Lock spell under his breath and hoping the magic would help hold the damn thing shut, while they went through the clothing. He stopped as he heard Amelia giggle. _Oh, no..._ "If you found the robes, the Guild makes me wear them for all official functions."

"And you didn't protest?" Amelia said. "You threw a fit when Miss Lina and I suggested the disguises for Femille."

"Those are male robes, not female," Zelgadis replied, feeling his face heat up. "I'm not senior enough to have a color yet, so they're just black." Considering it so happened one of the old guildmasters had known Rezo enough to recognize Zel's family name, and had insisted on pointing it out to everyone repeatedly, he would probably be stuck with 'the Red' if he ever got to that point and someone would end up with that page of the Guild records stuffed down his throat. "So just put them down."

"Whatever you say, Mister Zelgadis." He looked over, after the chest finally stayed shut. She was grinning like Xellos with a secret. He wondered if maybe this was payback for the handshake instead of letting her hug him. "I have everything in here." She held up the rucksack, stuffed to bursting. "Let's go."

He managed to get the trunk out of his room, with Amelia following with his bag. Most of the students had left for the end of term already, though a few remained for extra work over the summer. He noticed them were staring at Amelia as she happily tried to make small talk with him as they walked. Amelia waved at them. "Making any friends?" she asked him.

"Not really. I'm here to study, not to socialize." It had been her idea in the first place -- if even Rezo didn't know of a way to change a chimera to a human, then why not invent a spell that did it himself? Amelia probably hadn't meant it seriously, but when Zelgadis took an interest in it, she helped him get in contact with Atlas City's Sorcerer's Guild again, without reminding him of their role in the Halcyform mess. They insisted that his informal education would never work for the task, and that he'd need to stay for advanced study. So, he'd become a student for a term.

And even if he _had_ been interested in socializing with other students, most of them didn't know what to make of him. He wasn't even sure if it was his chimera form. Zelgadis had realized early on that his practical education didn't mesh at all with the normal methods of teaching: he was far more advanced at improvisation than his classmates, but most of the professors claimed he was a sloppy caster, which was clearly preposterous. Maybe before he'd tried this, he should have consulted Lina; she was supposedly Guild-trained even if Zel suspected it had been a long time since she had entered a classroom

"That's a shame, Mister Zelgadis," Amelia said. "It's good to have someone around to spend time with, even if you spend time with them studying."

He nodded, pulling the trunk through the door. "I hate to ask, but how did you get here? I don't think I can walk back to Saillune with this thing."

"I brought a coach," Amelia replied. "It's a bit faster than walking, and it will let you carry your books." She opened the door, holding it as he went outside, then followed.

"I'm going to just ask the dorm mother if she's willing to hold them for me. No sense lugging them over half the continent just to carry them back in the autumn." She could always sell them to some of the other students if he decided not to return -- the city could use every copper piece.

"That sounds like a good plan," Amelia said. "And you might like the coach road -- it's certainly a different view than you get on foot."

"You know me and well-traveled routes, Amelia," he said, shifting the weight of the trunk a bit. "I don't like being stared at."

"Oh, don't worry about that," She smiled at him. "I borrowed one of the kingdom's coaches, since I needed to attend to a few things on the way out. It was cheaper than paying the fare for a commercial coach."

Zelgadis suppressed a sigh. While riding with her would mean he would not be subject of a crowded ride with uncomfortable seat-mates, he would be subject to even more scrutiny at stops, as not only was he a Freakish Monster, but he would be The Freakish Monster That Just Rode in on a Saillune Royal Coach. But, try explaining it to Amelia, who didn't seem to realize how much attention she could draw as the Princess of Saillune.

"Excuse me, Miss?" A man approached Amelia -- he was too old to be a student, with robes the same color as his graying hair, and Zelgadis didn't recognize him as a professor. His cloak was lined with Sairaag colors, though, which meant either a refugee from Sairaag's Guild, or alumnus of their school. "You wouldn't happen to be Her Highness, the Princess Amelia wil tesla Saillune, would you?"

"As a matter of fact, I am." The change in Amelia's posture was slight, and Zelgadis was certain that the sorcerer wouldn't have noticed it, but she had made the mental shift in gears from Amelia to the Princess of Saillune. "I don't believe we've been introduced."

"Nasim Awel, formerly of the Sairaag Sorcerers' Guild, now Guildmaster of the Jarei Sorcerers' Guild." He bowed.

"Jarei? That's in southwest Elemekia, isn't it?" Amelia said. "I believe it shares a border with us."

"We're a tributary of the Emprie," Nasim nodded. "I do hope that you'll visit us, Your Highness. The Crown Prince mentioned at the funeral of Sovereign Zureika several years ago that you were away on business to the Outer World. It's good to see you have retuned to the Subcontinent. His Majesty Sovereign Kavei is very interested in establishing good relations with his neighbors. In several months, there will be quite a spectacular solar eclipse visible in the country."

"When I can arrange it, I will be sure to visit. I've been busy with domestic matters recently." Amelia turned to look at Zelgadis. "And right now, I'm accompanying an old friend back home. This is Mister Zelgadis Greywords, a traveling companion of mine that's completing his studies in Sairaag. Mister Zelgadis, this is Master Awel." She grinned at both of them.

Zelgadis watched Nasim's expression as he turned towards the chimera. He caught a brief flash of surprise, and saw the man hesitate before offering his hand. _Just like I thought_ , he thought. Not even sorcerers were comfortable with chimeras. "We better get going, Amelia. We've got a long journey ahead of us."

"Well... I suppose you're right." Amelia nodded. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Master Awel. Please convey my regards to King Kavei."

"One moment, Your Highness," Nasim said. "The reason I was looking for you was that I heard that you had a message waiting for you in the Hall of Visions."

"Do I?" Amelia blinked. "Well, I better take care of that." She started walking. "You two can keep each other company until I get back. Bye!"

Nasim just looked at Zelgadis, who shrugged. "You get used to her doing that," Zelgadis said.

* * *

Halls of Visions were new things; ever since some clever sorcerers in Atlas City had discovered how to enchant a room to amplify the Vision spell, every Sorcerer's Guild and Temple of Ceipheed wanted a Hall of Visions. Some castles even had smaller versions of them, to allow court sorcerers to collect reports from the countryside. It was designed for one purpose: the enhancement of the spells that allowed images and sounds to be transmitted long distances. With the spells laid into the building, even a novice or apprentice could muster enough power to transmit anywhere in the Subcontinent. The other end was less constrained, provided a sorcerer was present to cast a weaker version of the spell.

"Your Highness, good afternoon!" The sorcerer on duty couldn't be more than an apprentice himself, and only recognized Amelia when she presented her seal. "I had just sent someone out to find you. There's a message coming in from Saillune for you, from a sorceress."

"Nothing serious, I hope?" She had given a copy of her travel plans to her father, and another to Uncle Christopher, so either could point a message in her direction, but she didn't think someone would bother her on something trivial.

"She didn't look too upset, so I'm sure it isn't bad news. The Hall is free now, if you'd like to use it." The sorcerer led Amelia through a large set of double doors, with a few magic symbols etched into them. The magic involved in the spell was the most harmless of white magic, but the room did store a lot of magic, which made any sensible spellcaster careful. The sorcerer took the logbook out of the cubbyhole near the doors, and checked it, then began the incantation, before Amelia could mention that she could cast the spell herself.

An image of a woman appeared. She was dressed in the white flowing garb favored in the south, near the Desert of Destruction, with a short, turquoise cape thrown over it. Her skin was heavily tanned, and Amelia saw her put a wide-brimmed hat out of the range of the spell. Amelia looked at her face, trying to place it. It was one of the sorcerers who had signed on to help with the Southern Reclamation Project, she was sure.

The woman bowed as the sorcerer finished the opening incantation and Amelia stepped into the circle. "Good afternoon, Your Highness," she said. "This is Leigh Halimeda of Redcliffe, in the territory of South Rockfield. I'm sorry to bother you."

"Oh, it's no trouble," Amelia said automatically.

"That's a relief. I was routed through to you after several days talking to people in the capital, none of which could help me." Halimeda folded her arms. "Hopefully, the woman at the top can."

"Well, Daddy and Grandfather are still above me, Miss Halimeda. And I don't have my records on hand -- I'm on personal business right now -- but I can see what I can do." Amelia glanced at the sorcerer, who went to stand at the door and motioned for him to leave. He did, without a word, but that didn't mean no one was listening. If it came down to it, she'd have to ask Miss Halimeda to contact her again once she was back in Saillune, but she didn't think there'd be anything that had to be top secret. "What's the problem?" Amelia asked.

"We've been having some trouble in Redcliffe. It started as little things, misplaced tools and the like. Then the wells starting going dry and when I checked the enchantments, someone had tampered with them. People have been reporting thefts of crops and animals and more sabotage of spells. Then someone damaged the mill's water wheel.

"Now, everyone's pointing fingers; the whole town's up in factions. Bartalan -- that's our mayor, Your Highness -- he's been trying to keep everyone calm, but, well, it's hard to stay calm when everything takes twice as long due to the problems." Halimeda sighed. "I've talked to the nearby towns and they can't help. They're starting to see the same problems. So far, it's still petty things for them."

"Do you think it's organized?" Amelia paused, digging through her pack for a piece of scrap paper and a stick of graphite. There had been opposition among the nobles for the project... or just for her implementation of it, she couldn't tell. Organization was a sign of a leader involved, and a leader might be a noble who had decided that, since diplomacy had failed to convince the princess that her pet project was a waste of resources, sabotage might work better. Thankfully the Duke of Rockfield was content to cede the Crown the southern expanses he technically had claim to. He'd told her the whole territory was more trouble than it was worth. Amelia was hoping that was just the words of a hidebound elder, and not a prediction of failure.

"Organized?" Halimeda frowned, looking thoughtful. "It if wasn't so widespread, I wouldn't give it a second thought, Your Highness. But..." she shook her head. "Either someone's organizing it, or things are going rotten here fast. If something else happens like the mill, someone will start throwing punches."

"I see." Amelia frowned. Sending down part of the Saillune Guard could just be the straw that broke the donkey's back. Most of the nobility and ministers that openly supported the project were very much in the model of her father -- justice-loving people who might be good at managing their land or towns, but had all the guile of an overeager puppy. Saillune never had been good at espionage, and her father had outright refused to use it, a topic of constant debate between him and Uncle Christopher. Lina and Gourry were out of contact -- she could track them down, but it would take time. However, there was one person she could trust on this.

"Miss Halimeda, would Redcliffe be prepared to accept a visit from me and one guest?"

Halimeda stepped back, nearly out of range of the spell, surprised. "I... well, I think so. Mister Galatei might have the room to put you up if the mayor doesn't. And I'm sure Mister Galatei will bend over backwards to make sure he has the room if the mayor can't." Amelia detected a sardonic note to Halimeda's voice at the mention of Mister Galatei. The name was familiar to her -- there was a duke by that name in the east, who had a large family. He had been a rather sharp opponent of hers on this project, in fact. This Galatei could be a son or a son-in-law, or possibly a younger brother. "I'll have to notify the mayor, though. When can we expect you?"

"It will take me a week to get that far south from Atlas City, and another to get to Redcliffe. I'll contact you in a week to make sure you could make the arrangements."

"Very well, Your Highness." Halimeda bowed, and the spell ended.

Amelia sighed. "Well, it looks like this will be a working vacation." I hope that's all right with Mister Zelgadis."

* * *

Zelgadis had exchanged an awkward goodbye with Nasim shortly after Amelia left. He didn't like making anyone stay where they weren't wanted, and few people wanted to make small talk with a chimera. Which left him standing outside alone. If he hadn't been waiting for Amelia, he would have just left. He should have asked her to tell him where the coach was so he could at least move his own bags there.

Just as he was wondering how hard it would be to find something with the Saillune Royal Crest, Amelia came running up to him. "It was that urgent?" he asked.

"Just a small political matter in the south part of the kingdom," Amelia looked away. "Mister Zelgadis, you wouldn't mind if we headed there instead of back home? I know it's short notice, but I can't think of anyone else to handle this."

Zelgadis considered this. On the one hand, he wasn't fond of cities on principle. Saillune City wasn't that bad, as cities went, but he didn't care much for crowds. "You know, you don't have to hire me for a bodyguard when we're in Saillune. I'm sure the royal guards would make a better impression. Politically speaking, I mean." He could project strength, but he wasn't so certain he wanted to get involved in Saillune politics. Again.

"Actually, I had considered this, Mister Zelgadis," Amelia said. "You make exactly the impression that I want to make. We can just stop and renew the appointment Daddy gave you last year."

Zelgadis sighed. It almost made him miss the younger Amelia, who wasn't nearly as good at politics -- certainly not enough to even try to manipulate him. Of course, then he would have to put up with random trips to stomp bandits and promote Justice. "When did you get so devious?"

"Well, Miss Lina once told me that there were two types of nobles -- straight-forward ones like Daddy and sneaky ba-" she paused at a reproachful glare from Zelgadis. "I was quoting Miss Lina, Mister Zelgadis and she can be very creative with language. Since it's my duty as a princess of Saillune to do what's best for my people, I decided I had to learn how to outsneak the sneaks. So, I've been practicing." She smiled at him, suddenly looking innocent. "We're going to have to sail down the coast. It's quicker than going by road."

No sense arguing now. She had already decided she was going, and his options seemed to be continuing to the capital to spend three months with Prince Phil, wandering off on his own, or following Amelia. He started walking after her. "Where are we going anyway?"

"The village of Redcliffe in South Rockfield. You've heard me mention the Southern Reclamation Project?"

He nodded. They didn't talk much about work when they spoke, but this had been keeping her busy -- first in getting the land to the south that bordered the Desert of Destruction, next in sending priests and sorcerers in it to clear it of any lingering demons and make it borderline-habitable, then in finding people crazy or desperate enough to try to live there. "So, what's going on down there that needs your attention?"

"The message was from Miss Halimeda, a sorceress in Redcliffe. She says there's a lot of unrest in the locals down there." Amelia said. "So, I'm planning on going down there and soothing a few tempers. I don't think I'll need soldiers or anything; these are my own people. Just a bit of help."

"And you want me to find out who's responsible while you do the princess thing," Zelgadis finished. "What makes you think that I'll be able to manage that? I'm no detective."

"Well, my recruitment for the project was a little skewed."

Zelgadis looked at the princess, uncertain exactly where this was going, but not liking whatever she was about to say. "Skewed?"

"I thought to myself, where would be a good place to find people who would welcome a new life? People who had enough money to start out, but couldn't get a start in the more settled areas? And then I remembered people like Mister Jillas and you who didn't feel welcome in cities..."

"Amelia, do you mean to tell me that the south is now full of beastmen and chimeras?" Zelgadis stared at her. Beastmen could sometimes manage in human lands, but they still usually kept to themselves. Chimera were rare enough that any swelling in their numbers usually meant some evil sorcerer was setting up camp. _Only in Saillune_ , he thought.

"Well, mostly," Amelia said. "Most of the priests and sorcerers down there are still human. And there are human settlers too. Duke Galatei wasn't happy with the plan, and I found out he had offered to pay the way for any of his people who wished to go South."

Zelgadis sighed. _Maybe I should rethink the compliments on her political savvy_. "With that much going on, I'm surprised things haven't erupted into full-scale violence. Civil unrest indeed..."

"I knew things would be rough the first ten or twenty years or so," Amelia replied. "This is a project for the long-haul. If I want to be remembered for something, it's for making Saillune into a place where real justice can be found for everyone, not just the majority. Maybe then, other countries will follow in the path we blaze."

Zelgadis wondered if that was a fragment from a speech or something. _Well, what the hell do you say to_ that _?_ Not that he wouldn't like to see her succeed, but, well, people were narrow-minded bastards. Amelia showing up with a chimera bodyguard or investigator or whatever she was calling him might convince the humans she was on the nonhumans' side, or convince the nonhumans that he was a spineless toady.

On the other hand, he would be traveling, and doing something more interesting than yet another spell variation. He could feel his mind starting to work on the problem, already planning on what questions to ask Amelia about the land and people. He felt more awake than he had been since... well, since he got here. _How the hell did she sell me on this? She's getting far too clever._ "All right, let's go."

* * *

Zelgadis had been hastily re-affirmed as a special member of the Saillune Royal Guard by a retired guardsman when they made port in the south. Thankfully, he had talked her out of trying to find or alter a uniform for him. He still wore a badge of office hastily pinned to the front of his shirt. He wasn't sure how he felt about this; unlike a bodyguard, he actually had legal authority now. What the hell was Amelia thinking?

As they rode south, the fields of grain and forests turned into scrub and cattle grazing. The buildings started to be built differently, too -- made of clay bricks, rather than wood. A few of the poorer dwellings were little more than holes dug into the hillsides.

Signs of domestication had almost faded to nonexistence among the dry plants growing in the area, when Amelia asked their driver to stop the coach. She beckoned Zelgadis outside. "Look," she said.

At first he thought it was just a cairn to mark the road. Then he spotted the glint of the top rock. He took a step off the road to get a better look at it. The rock was a blue green glass stone, with a rune bound inside of it. Zelgadis appraised it. "It's not that powerful a spell," he noted.

"But easy to make," Amelia added. "Put enough of these in the area, and it will be much easier for the soil to retain water. They also pull groundwater up towards the surface a bit."

"I didn't know you knew anything about hedge-shamanism. You learned your magic at the temple in the capital, right?"

"Well, this is my project, Mister Zelgadis. I had to figure out if mages _could_ manage to make this place livable. So I did a little research." Amelia chuckled as she turned to climb back into the coach. "It was harder than you think -- most sorcerers guilds don't write down those kind of spells."

Zelgadis remembered the sorcerers he had worked with in Atlas City. "No, I don't imagine they do." _After all, that would be using magic to do something practical._ He stepped forward, debating on whether to help the princess up, but she had already sat down inside the coach. _Well, that answers_ that _question_ , he thought and climbed up himself. "We must be close to a settlement. I can't think you had enough resources to seed the entire southern part of the country with those."

Amelia nodded. "We're almost there."

And it was less than an hour before they rolled into town -- what there was of it. There were maybe a half-dozen mud-brick buildings clustered along the river bank. Zelgadis spotted the town's mill on a slight rise upstream, the mill wheel still, and the inlet blocked off. The coach rolled up to the town's stable. There were several people standing outside of it; Amelia had sent out word ahead that she would be expected today.

Amelia bounded out as soon as the couch stopped moving, leaving him looking rather silly as he hurried after her. One of the people, a human woman in her late twenties, with dark hair pulled up into a braid, and a bright blue sorcerer's cape cut so short as to be mostly decorative, stepped forward, bowing. "It's a pleasure to meet you in person, Your Highness."

"And you too, Miss Halimeda."

"May I introduce you to Bartalan, the mayor of Redcliffe," Miss Halimeda gestured to an enormous bearman, who nodded at them, "Claire Sholei, the town's priestess," a brown-haired woman in a simple white robe smiled, "and Rian yas Galatei, one of our town's more... outspoken citizens." Zelgadis couldn't have been the only one who caught the slight hesitation in Miss Halimeda's voice.

A human man, maybe ten years older than Zelgadis, and dressed far too ornately for the dusty town, stepped towards Amelia. "Good to see that someone in the capital is taking this seriously, Your Highness."

"Indeed we are, Mister Galatei -- you're Duke Galatei's son, aren't you?"

"That's correct. I'm-"

"That's nice. I'm so glad he's taking an interest in the project, since he seemed so reluctant when I spoke to him at first." Amelia barely gave him room to answer. "This is Mister Zelgadis Greywords, who is a special member of the Royal Guard. He will be conducting the investigation, with my assistance."

He caught the looks of surprise on the priestess's face, and a rather interested look on the mayor's face. He also saw Galatei very quickly cover a scowl. "But I was quite certain that you were the one investigating the situation," Galatei said quickly.

"Oh, Mister Zelgadis is probably better suited for this than me. After all, he was one of three people who was involved in protecting both myself and my father during that mazoku attack a number of years ago, and he fought to defend the capital from Zannafar's attack last year. He's a specialist in shamanism, an expert swordsman, and has a number of other skills he picked up while traveling the Outer World. I couldn't ask for a more loyal and competent person to handle this."

 _She's laying it on rather thick_ , Zelgadis thought. He couldn't help but feel pleased that she thought so highly of him. _I don't think I deserve all that. I'm competent enough, but I'm as loyal as a cat._ Hopefully the hot weather would excuse the flush he felt on his face.

"If he is half as you say he is, I have no doubt this will be a quick trip for you, Your Highness," Bartalan said.

"I hope so too, Mayor." Amelia smiled. "I'm glad to be out here, but I'd rather it have been arranged under better circumstances."

"Mister Galatei has agreed to host the both of you use of a room in his house. I'm afraid most of us have very little space for guests," the mayor said. "We'll leave you to get settled in, but Miss Sholei, Miss Halimeda and I will all be available if you have any questions."


	2. Chapter 2

There was one room, barely large enough for two skinny beds. Zelgadis carefully tested one of the beds before setting his pack down and taking out his bedroll.

"It looks study enough, Mister Zelgadis," Amelia said as she set her own pack down. "I don't think you'll break it."

"That's not why I'm getting this out." He also removed a short coil of rope form his pack and Amelia wondered how much he had in the bag. Tying the ends to the hooks on the wall -- probably meant for clothing -- Zelgadis strung the canvas across the room. "Which side do you want?"

"Oh... Oh! That's a good idea." Amelia blushed a bit. "Better than seeing if Mister Galatei has any more space, since the Mayor said everyone was a little short."

Zelgadis nodded. "He'd probably end up sticking me in the cowshed."

Amelia sighed. Well, what could she say to that? Galatei wasn't very happy about something, whether it was Saillune employing a chimera in its royal guard, or the fact someone besides her would be investigating the situation. "I'll take the side near the window. Mister Zelgadis, do you mind stepping over there and turning your back? I need to change my clothing." She had dressed up for her arrival, as best as she could for an unexpected trip. But now she needed to be able to get around and investigate, not look like a princess.

"You should have worn something more practical." But Zelgadis was already moving to the other side of the curtain.

After she changed, and used a washcloth to scrub off some of the ever-present dust, she left the room. Zelgadis was standing in the hall, leaning against the wall. He looked up at the click of the latch.

"Any ideas what to do first?" she asked.

"The sorceress... she's the one that contacted you?"

"Oh, I suppose I didn't really introduce you. Yes, that's Leigh Halimeda. She's in charge of the magic in the town and the surrounding farms and ranches. She's also our contact back in the capital -- the mayors, like Mister Bartalan, are usually elected by the people, since there's no nobility in the area. "

Zelgadis nodded. "So, she'd be the one with all the details of what's been going on. She'd also know where the likely targets are. Let's talk to her."

"All right." Amelia paused. "Do you know your way around town?" Zelgadis shook his head. "Me neither. Well, there weren't that many buildings, and it's only a short walk."

They descended the stairs, and passed through the main room. Galatei was seated at a desk in the corner, bent over a map. A couple of books were open. "Mister Galatei?" Amelia asked. "Would you happen to know where Miss Halimeda lives in town?"

"Third house to the west. Has a hexagram over the door. " He didn't even look up from what he was doing. Amelia saw Zelgadis peering over his shoulder. "Your Highness? My wife asked me to tell you supper is at three bells past. That's about an hour after sunset."

"I'll remember that, thank you." Amelia smiled. "We'll try to be there." She opened the door with a hand, waving with the other one.

"I wonder what was he doing?" she asked.

Zelgadis shrugged. "Surveying. That was a map of the area. I couldn't see what the books were."

Like the rest of the town, and unlike the Galateis' wood-frame house, Halimeda's house was built of mudbricks plastered over, with a tile roof. The hexagram sign was painted in blue and white, matching the stones they had seen on their trip up. Zelgadis knocked on the door.

Instead of Halimeda, a young woman -- about her own age, and wearing a simple cotton tunic and pants -- answered the door. "Hello. Can I help you?"

As Amelia's eyes adjusted to the darker inside, she took another look at the woman, noticing something different about her complexion. A quick notice of rather pointed ears gave her the answer she was looking for. _She's a chimera, like Mister Zelgadis_.

Zelgadis had noticed it too -- at least, if the slight widening of his eyes was any clue. "We're looking for Leigh Halimeda."

After realizing he wasn't going to explain, Amelia added. "I'm Princess Amelia, and that's Mister Zelgadis Greywords, who is the special investigator I've assigned to the matter of the sabotage."

"Oh. Oh, really? Um... should I bow or something?" The woman gave a nervous chuckle. "Sorry, sorry. Come in -- it's hotter than... it's hot out there." She stepped back, beckoning the two inside. "I'm Leigh's apprentice, Donla Savarna. Nice to meet you, Princess Amelia, Mister Greywords."

"And you as well, Miss Donla." The front room of the building was furnished pretty sparsely, with just a simple table and chairs against one wall, and a kitchen area against the other. Amelia spotted a ladder in the corner that presumably lead to the building's second floor.

Donla stuck her head through a curtained doorway in the back of the room. "Teach, there's people here to see you."

"Send them in." A muffled voice came from the room behind the curtain. Donla backed up, drawing the curtain aside, and motioned for Amelia and Zelgadis to enter.

The back room was obviously a workroom. Amelia spotted a map of the area pinned to the far wall, with colored pins stuck into it. Shelves covered the other two walls, full of books and raw ingredients for magic talismans. The table in this room looked a lot sturdier and better made than the one in the kitchen. A light spell hovered over it, and Amelia caught a glimpse of more talisman ingredients pushed to one corner Halimeda stood up as they entered. The priestess, Miss Sholei, was with her, two cups of tea sitting in front of them. "Donla, grab another chair from the other room. If you two would like to sit down, please?"

Amelia gestured for Zelgadis to take the chair offered. He gave her a sort of half shrug, before sitting down. "I hope we aren't interrupting anything," Amelia said.

"Oh, no. I was just chatting with Leigh here." The priestess smiled. "I don't have much to do when things are going well, and some of the work she does can be very tedious without company."

Donla returned with an extra chair, and Amelia sat down. She nodded to Zelgadis, who began speaking. "All right, so Amelia was telling me that someone or multiple someones have been sabotaging things around here. They broke the mill, and have generally been causing trouble."

Halimeda nodded. "Correct. The next supply wagon should bring up the replacement parts for the mill -- that will be in a day or two. Pol, the miller, says he'll be able to fix things once he gets the parts. Once those parts enter town, I'd say those are the most likely targets. Until then -- well, someone's been moving the water stones."

"Water stones?" Zelgadis asked.

"What I pointed out to you on the way out here." Amelia explained.

Zelgadis nodded. "Anyone could do that."

"Any one who finds them. Unfortunately, it's not that hard. I usually asked farmers to take them out with them, and they're normally at the edges of fields or pastures. It's a low level spell over the entire area, so I don't have to measure things down to the hair. But after the first ones were moved, I've taken to burying them."

Zelgadis sighed. "Good plan, but we really need to make sure no one knows where exactly they are. Or very few people -- we can then look to see if there's a pattern in what our saboteur discovers. We should probably talk to the miller, too. Amelia, do you think we could patrol tonight?"

"As long as we tell Mister Galatei we're not going to make it for dinner. To do otherwise would be rude." Amelia said. It would be rather like Zelgadis to avoid someone he didn't particularly like, and she really didn't want to offend their host.

"Donla has some errands to run out that way, anyway." Halimeda stood up. "Go on, Donla."

"Sure thing, Teach." Amelia noticed that her apprentice had been leaning against the wall through the entire conversation, after bringing in the chair.

"You might want to look in that direction tonight." Leigh turned around, looking at the map.

"What makes you say that?" Zelgadis asked.

"Rian's not well-liked by the town. The kids are okay, and Erica's a lovely woman -- have you met his family yet? But... he _claims_ he only looks down on people who don't pull their weight in town, but I've yet to see him do much of anything besides read and pour over maps. I tried to put him to work with magic, but he's barely competent. Donla's hasn't had nearly the education he has, but at least she can follow instructions." Halimeda shrugged. "He's just trying to cover for the fact he doesn't much like non-humans."

"I noticed." Zelgadis said dryly.

"You think so, Miss Halimeda?" Amelia said.

Halimeda nodded. "Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, that one."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Miss Halimeda," Sholei said softly. Amelia had nearly forgotten the other woman was here. "Mister Galatei is rather unused to the idea that not everyone is born to a high-ranking noble. It perhaps explains why he thinks as he does."

"Explains nothing," Halimeda turned, putting a hand on the table. "If he'd actually talk to most of the people in his own town, he'd see that most of them were lucky they had saved enough to move out here. We've got no shortage of people willing to work odd jobs to save enough to buy land out here, because it's better than doing mercenary work until you get yourself killed back in civilization." It sounded like a long-standing dispute between the two women.

Zelgadis stood up. "I better head to the mill before it gets dark. Check out the scene of the crime, even if there's probably not much evidence that was missed. At least nothing that's probably still there. Coming, Amelia?"

That sounded smart. On the other hand, Amelia thought she might be able to learn more about who lived in town from Halimeda. "I think I'll stay here, if it's all right with you, Mister Zelgadis. Good luck."

* * *

"Hey, you!"

The sun was getting low on the horizon, and it was coming ahead of Zelgadis on the road to the mill. He tried to block the setting sun with a hand and make out who was trying to get his attention.

"Over here! Grab that bundle over there for me." He finally spotted the owner of the voice, a racoonman, with a straw hat trying to lift a bundle of wood over the fence at the side of the road. The other bundle was already on the ground. A very large chimera -- Zelgadis wasn't sure of the exact type, but he had greenish skin, and a muscular build -- with more supplies, stood behind him. Zelgadis was starting to wonder if there were any humans besides the Galateis, Leigh and Claire in town.

Surprised, Zelgadis picked up the bundle -- more wood. "Good, good," the racoonman said. "Now follow me. Who are you, anyway? You're not one of the locals."

"Zelgadis Greywords. I'm here with the princess, investigating. What about you?" As the racoonman turned to go, Zelgadis noticed that what should have been a rather bushy tail poking out from under his tunic was bare and covered with scar tissue. _Fire spell. Probably means he was in mercenary work._

"Oh, really?" The racoonman turned and started walking -- thankfully in the direction Zel was heading. "I'm Pol the Miller. That's Astin." He pointed to other person with him.

"Yo." Astin seemed to be a man of few words.

"Astin helps out around the mill -- or did, when it was working, and he wasn't busy at his own place." Pol said.

"It's just him?" Zelgadis asked. Then again, he didn't really know how much work milling was. He understood something of the theory, but that didn't mean he really knew what was going on, beyond that grain went in and flour came out, and that it was somewhat mechanized, courtesy of the wind or a stream.

"Well, there are a lot of locals around here who don't really know that much about farming, so they just hire on at busy times, then move on when there's no work. A few hang around year-round. If I just need someone able to follow directions, I'll go find one of them. And you're probably thinking one of them broke the mill, aren't you?"

"Probably." Zelgadis agreed. "They would have the opportunity. Do you remember when you discovered the mill was broken?"

"I had run back to Southport that week to get some burlap for sacking. Astin over there was busy with his own farm, so I took Urice. When I got back, things were completely smashed. I'd latched the door... it still was latched when I got back, strange enough."

"Urice?" Zelgadis asked.

"She's a lizardman who lives around here," Pol said. "Not the brightest gem in the jewelry shop, but she works hard. A lot of folks use her as a hired hand, especially in the summer when it's hot enough to fry eggs. I needed someone to mind the horses while I went shopping. We ran into Ned up there as well -- that's the Galateis' eldest. He was in town running errands for his folks."

 _Does he think I think he's a suspect?_ "So, who has the keys?" Zelgadis asked.

"Just me," Pol took out a chain dangling around his neck, and took out the key. "It was just a padlock I had brought to town. I kept meaning to give a spare key to Astin, but I never had the money to find a locksmith."

By that time, the three of them had reached the mill. Pol unlocked the door. "Dunno why I bother there's not much left to smash or steal. Put the wood in the box on your left. I'm gonna need some of that to finish repairs."

"I thought the parts weren't coming in until later," Zelgadis said.

"They aren't, but the housing needs to be repaired before I can mount some of the parts." Pol glanced out the window. "But that will have to wait until tomorrow. It's too dark to work in here after sunset."

"Can't you use a lantern?" Zelgadis asked.

"Flour dust and fire are a bad combination. Even with the mill idle, moving around kicks up plenty of it." The mill did look dusty, though what looked to be moving parts looked well oiled. At least those that weren't splintered and broken. "Astin, put your box in the storeroom."

Zelgadis looked around. Everything was out in the open, besides the aforementioned storeroom that the miller's assistant had entered. Even the door to the storeroom was loose enough that Astin could open it with a shove, rather than trying to free a hand to use the latch. He walked over to the mechanism, trying to get a sense of how it should have worked when whole, tracing the connections from where the waterwheel was to the millstone. "This is pretty solid," he commented.

"Well, it has to crush grain and hold up to wear and tear," Pol said, patting it. "But don't let it fool you. Put a stick in the wrong place and the whole heavy thing works against itself."

Zelgadis nodded. "Mind if I take a look in the storeroom?"

Pol shrugged. "Go ahead. I cleared it out so I'd have space to work if another storm comes in before we fix the mill."

He did take a peek inside, and Pol was right. Aside from a workbench under the window, some tools, a sawhorse, and the lumber Astin had just put in it, it was empty. "You didn't find any convenient blood stains or scraps of cloth when the mill broke?"

"Not a one," Pol said. "Our vandal was very inconvenient like that. Of course, the weather's been bad enough that it might have washed away later that night. No footprints in the mud, though."

Zelgadis sighed. "I'll go over things in more detail, just to be sure. It couldn't hurt to have another set of eyes around."

"As long as you don't mind me working while the daylight is good," Pol said. "I have a few things I can finish before then.

Unfortunately, a thorough inspection of the mill and the grounds proved Pol right, and was a general waste of Zelgadis's time. He eventually had to stop when the sun had gone down, and he was starting to worry he'd trip and fall in the stream. He met Pol and Astin outside the mill, where the raccoon man was locking up.

"You go on." Pol waved him off. "I'm sure you've got something to do with finding out who smashed this place. Give 'em one for me."

"Good luck, Mister Greywords," Astin said, the only words the young man had spoken to him since Zel had met him. Then again, Pol had spoken enough for both of them.

"Good night," Zelgadis replied.

So, he'd seen the mill, though the poor timing meant he might have to walk back to the Galatei in the dark. The moon was only a crescent, and old habits meant he didn't cast a light spell, lest he lose his night vision.

He had started making a list of suspects. Galatei was on the top of the list. On the other hand, he was the obvious person. If he acted like Leigh Halimeda had said he acted to every chimera or beastman in town, _everyone_ would be suspecting that he was the one trying to spoil everything. Especially if he was a sorcerer, however minor.

The problem was, eliminating Galatei left him at nothing -- less than nothing, as he was beginning to suspect that magic was involved, and the only sorcerers in town were people who had far too many other, worse, ways to sabotage things. It didn't help that the crimes wouldn't take much sorcery to commit. The water stones should be easy to track via the Astral Plane, and unlocking and locking spells were simple to learn, even if no reputable guild taught them.

He was going to have to start seriously talking to people, getting a feel for who everyone was in town, and what motive they would have for sabotage. He _disliked_ talking to people. _Given Amelia's newfound political savvy, I'm starting to wonder if this is all part of a plan to make me more social._ Better than parties, at least. And maybe he could delegate the people skills to Amelia.

Zelgadis was approaching a cairn, like one Amelia had shown him that morning. It might have been a trick of the light, but he froze as he saw movement against the sky. Probably a wild dog. Still, his heart quickened and he ducked close to the ground, moving in as quickly as he could while staying silent. He circled a bit, putting the bluffs of the river at his back, and the wind blowing in his face. He was closer, and could make out the figure of someone, hurrying, hunched over, holding something, was silhouetted against the starry sky. Zelgadis chanted a Mono Bolt spell under his breath.

The figure stopped, mid stride. _He heard me_. Nothing to do now, but try to stun him with the spell. Zelgadis barreled forward, landing a hit on the stranger's torso with his right hand. The stranger went down hard, and he winced a bit. _I didn't think I hit him that hard_. "Lighting!" It would bring Amelia, and let him look at the stranger.

It looked like a lizardman, of indeterminate gender. He had been holding one of the water stones. Zelgadis sighed. "Knowing my luck, this isn't the end of things. Not by a long shot."

* * *

Amelia was walking up the road to the Galateis' house close enough that she could even see Mister Galatei coming out to meet her, when she spotted the light spell against the sky. "That's Mister Zelgadis. Mister Galatei, could you please send someone along to town to get the mayor? If Mister Zelgadis found something, we may need his services."

"We're just about to sit down to dinner, Your Highness." Galatei was only half successful at hiding the frown. "Surely it can wait until we've eaten."

"I'm sorry, Mister Galatei, but I _know_ Mister Zelgadis, and I _know_ the signals we agreed on. He wouldn't have sent up a flare if it wasn't important. _Reiwing_!"

It was a bit rude to leave like that, but the spell had signaled that either Zelgadis had found the culprit or that he had run into trouble beyond what he could handle. If it was the latter, she would have to hurry. Even if it was only the former, he might still want her assistance bringing the suspect in.

The light spell was still going when she landed, casting down a sharp, white glow by the side of the mill road. "Amelia, over here." Zelgadis waved with his free hand. The other was firmly grasping a stunned-looking lizardman. "I caught him tampering with the stones."

"Really?" Amelia frowned. "Do you know who he is?"

"Not a clue. I'll bet someone in town would know, though. Give me a hand here. I don't want to break my neck chasing him down in the dark if he gets loose."

"The mayor should be up. I sent Mister Galatei along to make sure he'd be ready for us."

Redcliffe was dark when they returned to town, the prisoner awkwardly supported between the two of them. "The mayor's over there," Zelgadis said. "I see Galatei's with him."

"Thank you, Mister Zelgadis." He had better night vision than her. All she could see were two figures standing near one of the dark houses. She could have guessed the first was Mayor Bartalan from his bulk, but the other could have been almost anyone.

If she wasn't careful, this could turn into a circus. She stepped back a bit, letting Zelgadis take the lead.

Bartalan strode forward. "Mister Galatei tells me you found something," he said.

"That's right." Zelgadis straightened up when he started to speak. "When on patrol tonight, I found this person tampering with the water stones." He gestured to the captured lizardman, who stirred a bit. Apparently the stun was wearing off.

"Is that so?" Bartalan said.

"Well, I suppose that's that," Galatei said. "It was one of those good-for-nothing drifters that come into town for work."

Bartalan made a thoughtful sound deep in his throat. "Do you recognize her?"

"No, I don't." Galatei said. "I don't associate with those people."

"I could be mistaken in this light, but I do believe this is Pol's handyman." Bartalan looked thoughtfully at their prisoner.

"Pol's the miller, right?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah. And he said he had a lizardman working for him. Urice." Mister Zelgadis paused. "He also said that she was in town with him the day the mill was sabotaged."

"Well, then, clearly she has an accomplice." Galatei said. "Or she's working for someone else."

"Either way, we're going to have to question her," Zelgadis said. "Mayor, is there anywhere in town we can do that?"

"I would offer the blacksmith's, but I would rather not wake my family," the mayor said. "We don't really have a jail, or a sheriff. Never needed one. I expect we'll be changing that soon, given the circumstances." Amelia could hear the wistful tone in his voice.

"My house is certainly out. I'm not having some thief in there, even if she is under royal guard." Galatei said quickly.

"I really don't want to wake anyone else," Amelia said, trying to think of an alternative.

"Especially since one of them could be her accomplice," Zelgadis added.

"What about Miss Halimeda? She's probably the only person in town that is above suspicion." Amelia asked. Even for Zelgadis, who probably suspected everyone besides Amelia herself at this point.

"Let's go. As long as she keeps her assistant out of it." Galatei started walking.

"Your concern is noted." Zelgadis strode after him, forcing Amelia to keep pace or drop their prisoner. Amelia could hear the dry tone his voice took, and hoped that Galatei wouldn't push the issue.

 _This better not turn into a... a contest of one-upmanship_ , Amelia thought. Who knew Mister Zelgadis would take so to being in charge? Or maybe it was just his reaction to being pushed around -- it did remind her a lot of how he treated Xellos. "Mister Zelgadis? Miss Urice is waking up. I think we better hurry."

"All right. Fine. Now, let's go," Zelgadis gestured to Galatei to continue walking.

 _Honestly, was that all really necessary_? Maybe putting him in charge was not the best idea.

Galatei banged on Halimeda's door, probably loud enough to draw the attention of the part of the town not already listening to his shouting match. After a moment, Halimeda answered it, barefoot and not wearing her cloak. "Rian, you better have a damn good reason why you are here, keeping me from my bed."

"Government business. We need a place to interrogate a possible enemy of the state." Galatei said.

Zelgadis sighed. Loudly. "We caught someone tampering with the water stones, and we want to figure out why. _Discreetly_." The last was sent with a glare at Galatei.

"And you need my house for this... why exactly?" Halimeda gave them all a tired look.

"Because you are probably one of the few people who isn't a possible accomplice." Zelgadis said. "I don't want to let on what's going on. At least not until I have to hear what Urice here has to say for herself."

"Fine. Fine. Burn the place down if you like, as long as the capital foots the bill," Halimeda stepped back, waving them all in. "But don't be expecting me to go to bed while state business is being conducted. I'm nosy. Tired, but nosy."

"I'm staying too. Someone needs to represent the human farmers here." Galatei practically rushed through the door and grabbed a chair. He folded his arms across his chest after sitting down, as if daring someone to move him.

"Fine. Listen in, if it will make you be quiet." Zelgadis said, crossing his arms.

Bartalan had taken another chair, and stood behind it. He tapped it with a large hand. "If you could put her down here, Your Highness."

Amelia helped Urice into the chair. Her yellow eyes were open now, and she gazed at the princess with what Amelia imagined was a dazed look. "Who 're you?" she muttered, in a thin, reedy voice.

"I'm Amelia. We need to ask you a few questions, Urice. That's your name, right?"

"Yep. That's me." Urice smiled, an effect Amelia found a bit disconcerting. _My, she has_ very _sharp teeth, even if she doesn't look like much_.

"What were you doing outside tonight?" Zelgadis asked.

"Who 're you, then?" Urice replied, turning to look at him.

"That doesn't matter," Zelgadis replied.

"That's Mister Zelgadis. Could you please answer, Miss Urice?"

"I was movin' the stones." Urice said, nodding.

Well, that was easy. Amelia caught Galatei about to step forward and held up a hand. She quickly asked, "Why?"

"Cause the sorceress asked me to."

"She did?" Mister Zelgadis said.

"You did?" Bartalan turned towards Halimeda.

"Certainly not," Halimeda said.

"Yes, you did. I remember. Couple'a days ago, I was workin' at the Alvarz farm, haulin' water. I was eatin' lunch outside, and you came up to me, and you said, 'Urice, can you do me a job?'. So I asked, 'what kinda job?' and you said 'I need you to move some of the water stones, and give some back to me'. Said a lot of magic stuff too, to try to tell me why, but I didn't pay attention, seein' as that's none of my business. So, I moved 'em."

Halimeda looked at each person in the room in turn. "I've been in town making more stones for most of this past week. If you need proof, you can talk to Donla or Claire Sholei." Her brow was furrowed and she sounded more confused than guilty.

"So, she's lying then." Galatei said.

"I'm not lyin'. The sorceress walked up to me." Urice crossed her arms. "I dunno why she doesn't remember, but I don't forget jobs. That's how you don't get paid for 'em."

"How sure are you that the person you spoke to was Leigh?" Zelgadis asked quietly. He was pacing about, and Amelia thought he might trip on a chair. But, he was looking thoughtful, which might mean he had an idea.

It certainly looked like someone was lying here, and, it was looking more and more like it was Urice. If Halimeda wanted to sabotage her own efforts, she wouldn't have to hire someone else to do it. Or there'd be more secrecy. Or something.

"Sure as sure. She had the blue cloak."

Zelgadis made a sort of 'hmm' sound, like he was thinking of something. "Urice, can you tell humans apart?"

"Sure I can. Right now, I can tell that's Rian yas Galatei, because no one else wears the shiny clothes around here, and his cloak has his family's noble-mark thing on it. And that's Sorceress Leigh since she said she was, and this looks like her house. And that's Amelia, who just introduced herself to me."

"But, what if Galatei dressed in work clothing, like mine," Zelgadis pulled at the fabric of his shirt, showing that it was a far simpler cut and rougher weave that Galatei's clothing. "And was with a lot of other human men. Or right now, when Leigh isn't wearing her cloak?"

Urice chuckled. "That might be a tough'un then. I'm not so good with human faces."

"So, if another human woman was wearing a cloak like Leigh's, and had dark hair in a braid," Zelgadis said, half thinking to himself.

"I suppose I might think it was the sorceress. But why would someone go trickin' me like that? 'S not like I wouldn't work for anyone who pays well."

"But you wouldn't move the water stones without me telling you to," Halimeda said.

"No, ma'am. I don't go touchin' magic stuff, 'specially magic stuff that's makin' the crops grow." Urice nodded. "If one of the farmers asked me, I'd go tell them 'ask the sorceress'."

"There you go. That means our suspect is a human woman with dark hair. And probably about Leigh's height and build."

"Or someone else who can disguise himself or herself as one. She could use a wig," Amelia said. "How many human women are in town?"

"There aren't many people around here," Halimeda said. "And most of the women around here have short hair; long hair's a hassle when you're working. Certainly all of the farmers cut theirs. That leaves me, Claire, Erica Gal-"

"My wife is not a suspect here!" Galatei interjected.

"I never said that she was, only that she and I both have long, dark hair. You shouldn't get so defensive, Rian. Someone might start thinking your family's up to something." Halimeda smirked.

"I didn't realize that people couldn't tell humans apart," Amelia said, hoping the subject change would prevent Halimeda and Mister Galatei from getting into an all-out brawl.

"About that..." Galatei said, finally turning away form his argument with Halimeda.

"Can either of you tell lizardmen or fishmen apart?" Zelgadis said. "Most people can't. _I_ couldn't, until I started working with them. Hell, most people never learn how to tell anyone that's not their species apart by face, unless they spend a lot of time with them. Especially if they aren't standing right next to one another. It makes a lot of sense that it would go both ways."

"I still don't think she's cleared herself," Galatei said. "We don't know she's telling the truth about this person, even if she can't tell people apart. We also don't know if _you're_ in on it." He pointed to Halimeda.

"What do you want her to do, point out the person really behind this?" Halimeda replied. "And, believe you me, if I was in on it, I wouldn't even bother making the stones work at all."

"Maybe that's what you want us to think."

"We can check Miss Halimeda's story with her apprentice and Miss Sholei, if it would put you at ease, Mister Galatei." Bartalan said. "Let us focus on finding who is really behind this, instead of hunting for demons among ourselves."

"We'll just have to check for the person Urice saw." Mister Zelgadis said. "Which is why none of you are to say anything to anyone else in the town. When were you supposed to meet this person again?" he turned back to Urice. Presumably their suspect didn't want Urice bringing them to Halimeda's workshop.

"Tomorrow night, in the bluffs by the river."

"All right, here's what's going to happen. You're going to meet her and hand over some stones Leigh's going to give you. I'm going to be out there as well, and when she comes up, I'll trap her. Got it?"

"I got it." Urice nodded.

"I'll keep an eye on her until tomorrow night," Bartalan said. "I have a few odd jobs she can do."

"And the timing means that Mister Zelgadis and I can still have dinner with you and your family tomorrow, Mister Galatei." Amelia smiled. "Isn't that nice?"


	3. Chapter 3

Amelia and Zelgadis had discussed the matter over breakfast, and decided to walk out of town, then double back in the air to get to the location Urice described to them. The roundabout path and use of flying spells meant they wouldn't be followed or leave traces at the meeting place, and checking it out in daylight would mean they would be able to make better plans for that night.

Once they were in the air, Zelgadis looked for the mill stream. The location Urice had given them was on the river the stream flowed into, so all they needed to do was follow it downstream to where it joined the river. As they flew, the ground grew hillier, until they reached the river bluffs, covered in red stones. Further upstream, the river wound into a series of canyons. The plants were sparser around here, despite the water -- the ground was too rough for anything but the most tenacious scrub.

Amelia angled towards a cairn of rocks, and Zelgadis followed her. "We can't land there," he shouted. "We'll leave footprints. Over there -- there's a hill over there." The two of them landed. "This could make a good observation spot. It's away from the direction of approach."

Amelia nodded. "Good visibility too."

Zelgadis looked down, over their clothing. "Of us and them. Make sure to wear black tonight. Or something that's not white," he added, realizing Amelia still might object to the color of villains. "We'd stand out more if we have light colored clothing." He'd have to change as well.

"I'll see what I can find." Amelia nodded. "We're very close to the edge of the canyon. If we fly through that, it will prevent someone spotting us against the sky."

"Sounds good." Zelgadis said. "Hopefully, between the two of us, we can cut off any retreat."

It looked like everything was coming together. Which, of course meant that everything would come apart before tonight, but that was just how the world worked.

"Why are we eating dinner with the Galateis again? Shouldn't we be preparing for tonight?" Zelgadis asked. Not for the first time -- he had asked the previous night, but Amelia had asked that he bring it up tomorrow, since she was tired, and he had reluctantly agreed. But, now it was tomorrow, and they were out and about, and so now he wanted answers.

"And what do you call this?" Amelia asked.

"Well, yes. But we really don't need to be having some social occasion when we should be setting up. We'll have to be there well before the meeting, so our saboteur doesn't see us coming and bolt."

"And I think we should go. You heard Miss Halimeda last night -- only two people in the area look enough like her to fool Urice, and one of them is Mister Galatei's wife. We haven't really spoken to her much, and I want to get a sense of who we're dealing with."

"You know, if you want to be in charge, just say so." Zelgadis turned to look at Amelia. "I don't mind taking orders. I certainly do it enough when we travel with Lina. This is your trip anyway -- I'm just here because you asked me to be. Why did you put me in charge, anyway? You aren't trying to be all political about this, are you?"

"Well..." Amelia paused, looking away. "Kind of. I didn't realize people would care so much about this. When I announced it, I didn't expect so many people to be opposed to it -- I mean, no one was really using the land. Why should it matter who lives on it once its settled, as long as everyone has a fair chance to get it, and they all are peaceful people who obey the laws? I don't understand it -- I know it's unjust, but some people I thought were good people were saying things. Mister Galatei's father was one of them -- if you had asked me before this started whether he was a good man, I would have said 'of course."

"This is really bothering you, isn't it?" Zelgadis asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to break up the flow of Amelia's words before he got overwhelmed.

"Yes, it is. Which is why I wanted someone else along, someone I trusted. Because I thought I had a handle on how to figure out motivations, but I don't think I do."

"You'd be better off with someone else. I just think the worst of people." Zelgadis said.

"And I think the best of people. Between us, then, we might have some sort of good judgement." Amelia smiled, and Zelgadis felt her take hold of his arm. Something in his face must have shown his surprise, since she stepped back. "I'm sorry, Mister Zelgadis, I-"

"It's _fine,_ Amelia." He had forgotten about her crush on him, or had assumed it had changed into a strong friendship. All of the times they had spoken in the last six months hadn't shown any of that awkwardness, nor had he picked up anything on the trip down. They had mostly just talked. _And now she's blushing_. _Great_. "I just didn't expect- oh, never mind."

"If you say so, Mister Zelgadis." But she had stepped back and Zelgadis wondered if he had accidentally offended her, or something. _Which would be my luck. Well, between us, we can show no social ability whatsoever_.

"Why didn't you just make me your deputy then?" Zelgadis asked, trying to change the subject.

"Because I thought your outlook would be better than mine, so you should be in charge." Amelia answered. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you, Mister Zelgadis. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision."

 _She really needs to work on that_. "Just don't do it again. I don't like surprises." He paused, considering for a moment what to say next. "Amelia, can I give you some advice? If I'm in charge, you can't keep stepping on my toes. It makes it look like you don't trust my judgement, which doesn't help either of us."

"I don't mean to, Mister Zelgadis. I just don't want either of us to overlook anything."

Zelgadis nodded. "I know, I know. Just... maybe we can try to split up. Tackle things from different angles, then talk it over and try to put the pieces together. I know you wanted to spend more time with me, but it could help us wrap this up quickly."

"As long as you don't try to leave me out of the important stuff, all right?" Amelia said.

"Of course not," Zelgadis said. "I've learned something about teamwork since you met me." More like remembered -- he'd learned it first with Zolf and Rodimus, and the shock of their deaths had pushed it away. After all these years with Lina, Gourry and Amelia, it was finally coming back to him.

"Let's finish looking things over," Amelia said. "I think we can hop over to that hill on the other side, and get a different view of the site. Then we better head back to town if we want to find something to wear for tonight, unless you brought anything."

Zelgadis thought about it, then sighed. "No, I don't have anything like that." Hopefully they wouldn't be talking Galatei out of spare pants for him -- if he wanted a way to make the man dislike him even more, that would probably be it.

* * *

Amelia spotted the storm clouds on the horizon, dark against the orange sky. Between scouting the site and some errands in town, they had been out all day, and it might well be a late night. A late, wet, night. At least dinner would give her a chance to sit down and have something substantial to eat. "Maybe we shouldn't bother going out tonight. Our suspect might just decide to stay in."

"And if we stay in, I'll bet she'll be out there." Zelgadis said. "But I can go alone, if you're worried about the storm."

"No, it's fine. If you think we should head out, we can." Amelia said, glancing at the clouds again. She had heard stories about flash floods out here, but she wasn't really sure about what one would look like. Being on a hill would help, wouldn't it?

Galatei was heading out as they arrived at the door of his house, a frown creasing his face. "Princess, I don't suppose you've seen my wife? She went out this afternoon to look at some of the fences in the back country, and hasn't been back yet."

"Have you even gone looking for her?" Zelgadis asked sharply. "We aren't-"

"What kind of a man do you think I am?" Galatei demanded. "I rode out and didn't see her. She couldn't have gotten far; there were fences that still needed mending. Which was why I was going to town to get more sets of eyes."

"Mister Zelgadis and I can see if we can spot her from the air. It looks like we'll be skipping dinner again, though." Amelia sighed. She'd really like to get a better handle on their hosts. Especially if Erica yas Galatei was a suspect.

"Thank you, Princess. I'll get some people from the town to help out on the ground." With a final glare at Zelgadis, Galatei took off at a brisk walk.

"We better stop at the house, to get you something for the rain," Zelgadis said. "We might not have a chance to head back before the stakeout."

Amelia shook her head. "Missus Galatei could be hurt. Let's just go."

"She's already been out there for a while, and it won't take long. I left my cloak in our room, anyway."

Even if it took an extra couple of minutes, once they got into the air, Amelia was glad they had stopped. She was really getting sick of flying. Mister Zelgadis's spare cloak did help with the wind, once she wrapped it around her. But it was more the fatigue of casting the same spell over and over. Ray Wing wasn't a horribly draining spell, but it never was meant to be used for long-distance travel. And they still might have to use it to get out to the stakeout site after they helped find Erica. It would be harder to spot two figures from the air than coming in over land.

She and Mister Zelgadis had spread out to search better. She could see him if she turned her head, and hear him if he shouted, but they were out of conversation range. Not that she could hear much over the rushing of the wind. She looked down, watching the cropland fly past her. The boundary of the property approached -- the Galateis had put a pasture between their crops and a section of rocky badlands that bordered their property. Amelia could see why someone would want to fence that in. A cow or a sheep or whatever they kept could easily break a leg if it got into the rocks, especially in the dark.

They were almost at the rocks now, and Amelia spotted a glint of white against the dark ground. "Over there!" she shouted, and angled down to land, aiming for a flat spot outside of the rough terrain. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zelgadis following suit.

"Let's approach on foot," she said once they were on the ground. She looked at the fence that had been there -- it had collapsed about ten feet away from where they stood, falling about five feet into a ravine. Which was about where she had seen the white spot from the air. Interesting.

Zelgadis nodded. "Fair enough." He cocked his head. "Someone's calling for help."

Amelia paused, trying not to even breathe. She couldn't hear anything, besides the wind picking up. But she trusted Zelgadis's ears. "Let's check it out." She quickly threw up a light spell, moving it behind their heads to cut down the glare. She saw Zelgadis turn her head towards her. "What?"

"Never mind," he said.

"No, really. What?"

"Well, if we wanted to sneak up on someone, that light spell killed any chance of it." Zelgadis started walking, at a pace that caused her to half run to keep up.

Amelia kept her eyes on the ground. Enough falls and you started to learn to be very careful about balance. She wanted to cross her arms and glare. "And get ourselves hurt trying to walk in the dark. Which would make it hard to do anything later tonight. Recovery spells can only do so much on a broken bone. You remember how long I was in that sling after Shabranigdo. Since right now we don't expect trouble, I didn't think it would be worth it."

"It's not that dark. I could see just fine."

"You have better eyes than me, then. It's getting too dark for me to see where I put my feet."

She heard his footsteps pause for only a moment, then resume, quicker. "Let's just get this over with," he said, his voice nearly a growl.

Amelia sighed. Zelgadis could be a bit high-strung. Probably more so since their discussion earlier. Her light let her spot a safe way down and she bounded across the rocks, not checking if Zelgadis was going to follow. So she came upon the woman first. It was Erica, for sure. Her face was drawn in pain, and coming closer, Amelia could see her leg was trapped beneath some rocks. "Oh, thank heavens," she said. "Princess, I hate to be a bother, but-"

"It's no bother, Missus Galatei. What happened?" She crouched near the woman, trying to get a better look at what happened. She saw Zelgadis, who had followed her down, take up a position on the other side of her.

"I was out here to check out the fences. Astin said he heard about one of our cows near his place, so I thought there might be a hole. But I don't see how a cow could get out of this. It was only a small hole when I found it. Bigger now."

"You fell?" Her foot could well be broken, but Amelia was more worried about her spine. If that was the case, she better at least cast a recovery spell before moving her, and take precautions. She remembered enough to know that moving back and neck injuries was dangerous. "Can you feel your legs?"

Erica nodded. "It hurts, a lot."

That was bad, but not the wort, but Amelia decided she better put a recovery spell on her back just to be safe. Nothing looked to be broken, and the spell should mend her enough to be safe to move. Neither she nor Zelgadis had the materials for a stretcher, and they couldn't leave her here all night. "Mister Zelgadis, can you move the rocks off her leg? Carefully?"

"I'd have to use magic, or take a lot longer. The area's still not stable." Zelgadis stared at the wall. "I don't want to bring more rocks down on all of our heads."

"Magic, then. After that, we better start looking for Mister Galatei and the search party. They won't see us from down here, so could you go back up and wave at anyone you see?" Amelia busied herself casting her recovery spell. She felt Erica tense up beneath her hands increase at the same time she felt Zelgadis's earth spell start shifting the ground. Amelia leaned forward to see the damage.

There was a lot of blood, and Erica's ankle had to be broken from the angle it was bent at. Amelia let her recovery spell expand to stop the bleeding. They would have to get someone -- Claire Sholei? -- to set the leg. Amelia might know the basics of white magic, but she wasn't going to set a bone when they could wait for someone who did it for a living. "Feeling better?"

"A little." Erica looked a little less pale, though it was hard to tell in the wan, bluish light from the light spell.

"Good." Amelia tried to smile reassuringly. "Your husband was going to get a search party together. Mister Zelgadis is up keeping an eye out for them. I'm sure they'll see us soon, then we can get you home and finish things up."

Erica nodded. "Thank you, by the way. And tell Mister Graywords thank you."

"You can tell him yourself when we get you out of here."

She felt a drop of rain run down her cheek, and remembered that gullies like this tended to channel rainwater. Her earlier fears of flash flooding came back to her with the raindrops. "Mister Zelgadis? I think we're going to have to move Missus Galatei if the rain picks up."

"There's someone coming," he said. "How urgent is it?"

"Depends on the weather," she answered. "I've heard places like this are prone to flooding."

She heard the sound of horses, and Zelgadis leaned over from above. "We've got a rescue party here. They have a stretcher."

"Oh, thank goodness." Amelia craned her neck, trying to spot her rescuers. She didn't have to; someone dismounted so quickly that she heard the thump.

"Erica?" Galatei looked like he was about to try to jump down into the ravine. Zelgadis motioned towards the path down they had used. If it had supported Zelgadis, after all, it was probably safe for most people. Galatei scrambled down it, and straight to his wife's side. "What happened? How bad is it?"

erica smiled at him. "Hello, Rian. I love you, but can we talk about this later, honey? I'm starting to get wet."

"Mister Galatei, can someone hand you down the stretcher?" Amelia asked. "We need to get Missus Galatei out of here before the rain really starts."

"Oh. Right. Yes, Your Highness."

One of the men Galatei had brought with him, a human man who seemed like one of the dozens of people she'd seen around the town but who she hadn't gotten a name for, handed him the bundle. Amelia helped Galatei spread spread it out next to his wife. "Could you two come down and help us here?" Amelia asked. "We could use another set of arms."

With Zelgadis, and the farmer that had handed Galatei the stretcher down on the ground, Amelia thought they could manage. "All right, now could you three gather around? I'm nearly certain her back wasn't hurt, but if I'm wrong, you need to keep it as still as possible when you move her. Ready? One... two... three!"

With a grunt of pain from Erica, the three men carefully rolled her onto the stretcher. Amelia motioned Mister Zelgadis to take the foot, while she grabbed the head. "It'll be safer for us to levitate her out. I don't know if we can get this up the path we used, and we don't have anything to anchor a rope."

"Fine. Do it." Galatei looked much graver than he had so far. Not surprising, with his wife lying injured in a ravine.

Amelia was thankful she had had a lot of practice coordinating spells with Zelgadis. She could almost cast the levitation spell without watching to match him. Almost, but she wasn't going to take a risk like that. It was only a short spell, and by the time they rose to the top and then slightly over to solid ground again, she was already tired from concentrating. _I've been using too much magic today_. It was amazing how much the little spells could build up.

Galatei had brought a small wagon, and they set Erica down on the bed of the wagon. "When you get back, send for Miss Sholei," Amelia told both of them. "It'd be better to have that set before you put any more healing spells on it. Sometimes magic can be funny about broken limbs."

"Aren't you coming back with us, Your Highness?" Galatei asked. "The storms around here don't happen terribly often, but they can be grueling if you're caught out in one."

Amelia looked to Zelgadis. "I can manage by myself if you're too tired, Amelia," he said.

"I'm not tired," she said quickly. "If you need a second person, I'm fine." She really didn't want to be left out of this. Anyway, they had done much more tiring things in their travels, when there wasn't an option of going back to a warm, dry house.

Zelgadis shrugged. "Your decision. Let's go then. If someone's crazy enough to be out in this weather, that is."

"Right."

This time, the two of them flew nearly on top of one another, letting the combined _Ray Wing_ spell shield them from the rain and wind. There was no lightning yet, though the clouds had looked like thunderheads coming in. Once the lightning got going, it most certainly wouldn't be safe to fly without an additional spell to neutralize the lightning, a spell taking magical energy she suspected she didn't have. Maybe she should have just stayed back and let Zelgadis handle things. Then again, he probably was as tired as she was. He hadn't cast the recovery spells, but he had used some earth shamanism she hadn't.

Amelia nearly didn't recognize their hillside in the rain. She did see the river, filled with rushing, pale water, but all the land around it looked to be the same slick, black terrain. "Here it is," Zelgadis said, his voice nearly lost to the wind, despite the shielding effect of the spell. "There's the cairn."

"I don't see anyone," Amelia said.

"Maybe she's not here yet." Zelgadis said. "Or maybe she's not coming."

"I really hope not," Amelia drew her borrowed cloak around her as they landed and lost the protection of the spell, quickly feeling the effect of the rain. "I don't like the rain. Especially outside in the rain."

"Crouch down a bit. You'll make less of a target that way -- for both the rain and our saboteur."

Amelia did as he suggested, crouching next to him. She stared into a growing storm, hearing thunder in the distance. _I don't think this is going to work. And we're far from town. This is all getting rather dangerous_. No one who traveled with Lina Inverse for long could afford an intense fear of danger. But getting killed by lightning, or a flash flood when she had survived the attempts of half of the high-powered mazoku in the world to kill Lina and her friends, seemed kind of... well, silly. She suspected Zelgadis felt the same way.

"I see a light coming." Mister Zelgadis said. Amelia squinted into the storm, looking carefully until spotted the flicker as well. It bobbed, not just due to the reflections off the rain. Someone was walking towards them.

She could barely make hints of a person out; a light cloak, an arm holding a lantern, a spell against the rain. The newcomer, the saboteur, showed no pause in walking up to the meeting spot.

Amelia glanced at Zelgadis, despite barely able to to see him. "Now?"

"Now."

The two of them took off running down the slope, towards their suspect, who turned her light towards them and then bolted. Amelia felt her boots slip in the mud, and, quickly, she turned this into a controlled slide down the hill. "Stop right there!" she shouted. Now, this was more like it. They had a suspect, clearly marked out, and only had to run her down. This she could do.

Their suspect was slightly slower than Amelia, thanks to Amelia's slide. Whatever it was, Amelia closed with her, and as she felt the end of the hill coming up, she leapt, trying to grab a hold of the suspect.

Success! She had gotten a hold of the woman's cloak! "Don't move! You'll just choke yourself!" Amelia yelled as she felt the fabric go taut in her hand. Sure, she had nearly lost her balance trying to grab the suspect, but she was all right now. She moved to put a hand on the suspect herself, just to make sure she didn't get away.

The woman turned, quickly, striking Amelia in the gut, hard. Amelia gave a gasp as the wind was knocked out of her. She hit the ground hard and she heard the sound of tearing fabric. She saw Zelgadis go tearing past her, and quickly stood up to follow him, careful not to fall over from the slick ground. She very nearly fell down a second time when he stopped suddenly. He put his arm out, catching her. "Careful. The cliff ends here. You don't want to fall into the river."

"What about the villain?" Amelia asked. How... well, how unfair for her to get away finally when they had a suspect.

"She went over the cliff," Zelgadis said.

Amelia paused, considering this. "On purpose?"

"I would suppose so. She jumped. Either she _really_ didn't want to be captured-"

"-Or she cast a flight spell on her way down and hid." Amelia finished. "I don't think we can find her in this weather. We were lucky to see her at all."

"Yeah. Lucky. Amelia, you still have her cloak, did you know that?"

"What?" Amelia looked at her arm, which still was clutching a long strip of fabric. "Oh, yeah. Look like it tore when she got away." She held it up. "Looks pretty simple. Wait a second, there's something on the clasp. _Lighting_."

She didn't put much energy in the light spell; she didn't have much energy to put in it. But it was enough to show a coat of arms on the crest. "That looks familiar," Zelgadis said.

"It almost looks like the Galatei family crest," Amelia said.

"Does it now?" Mister Zelgadis said. "There's no way Missus Galatei was out here tonight, and that was too short for her husband. Could it be a fake?"

"A forgery?" Amelia asked. "Maybe. I can't tell in this light. That means Missus Galatei's accident might not be an accident, if someone wanted to be sure she'd have no alibi tonight."

Zelgadis looked grim. "Things are getting a lot more complicated."

* * *

The Galatei house was dark when Amelia and Zelgadis approached it, soaked and covered in mud. "You don't suppose we'll be able to get a bath?" Amelia asked. "I thought this part of the country was supposed to be dry."

"Maybe whatever it was that your mages did is working," Zelgadis suggested. "It's just our luck we had to arrive here the one time it decides to storm. Anyway, I'd settle for towels and dry clothing." It was going to take forever for his cloak to dry. And his spare was just as wet, since he loaned it to Amelia.

"Maybe. Hopefully." Amelia smiled, pushing her bangs out of her face. She knocked on the door politely.

"Everyone's asleep," Zelgadis said. "Let's just go inside before they wake up." He put a hand on the door, fumbling for the latch in the darkness.

"It's not latched," a voice came from inside. Zelgadis pushed the door open. He heard someone strike a match, and saw the person, seated on the floor, or close to it, light a lamp. it was Missus Galatei. Someone, probably her husband, had brought down bedding and a mattress and had laid them in the front room. Erica herself sounded a bit better than when Zel last heard her, which wasn't saying much. "Once you two get inside and take off your cloaks and shoes, could one of you take the lamp from me?"

"Missus Galatei? What are you doing down here?" Amelia asked, stepping inside and removing her boots and cloak. Zelgadis stepped out of her way, and began undoing the laces on his own shoes. Hanging his cloak up, he immediately felt lighter. He hadn't realized exactly how much water the thing had soaked up. He also felt rather strange not wearing it, like he was half-naked. Given how much stuff he carried in it, a habit he had developed well before he and Lina had started exchanging tips on the subject, it probably wasn't surprising. Except for the fact he was going to head to bed as soon as he could; maybe the unsettled feeling was from still being wound up from their night out.

"We weren't able to find the priestess in town," Erica said, once Amelia set the lamp on a nearby table. "Or Miss Halimeda. Her assistant and one of the farmers managed to bind up my leg as best they could. He said all it needed now was a bit of magic."

"I can do a bit now for the pain," Amelia said, "but we'll have to wait until the morning to heal it fully. I'm sorry, Missus Galatei, but I'm just too exhausted to manage a spell like that."

"Don't trouble yourself, Your Highness. Mister Astin gave me some tea that helped some," Erica said.

"Mister Astin? Isn't he the miller's assistant?" Zelgadis said. He was also decidedly not human, if Zelgadis remembered correctly.

"He also farms in the area," Erica said. "Actually, he was the one who spotted the cow I was looking for. He and Miss Halimeda's assistant are friends."

Zelgadis nodded. Perhaps Erica wasn't as much of a jerk as her husband about chimera. Or maybe a broken leg was the great equalizer, and she was willing to take tea from Ruby Eye Shabranigdo himself if it would lessen the pain.

A bit more troubling was the news about Miss Halimeda and Priestess Sholei. Both were on Zelgadis's lists as people who could have been out by the river. They still didn't have anything better to go on than Urice's description, and either woman fit the description and had enough magic to cast as many spells as they wanted.

There was just the matter of neither of them having an actual motive for sabotage, or trying to frame the Galateis, unless you count Leigh's evident dislike of Rian yas Galatei. Which probably meant that he needed to actually talk to them both some more. Or ask Amelia to follow up on her own conversations. Probably they'd have to both be there, since two sets of eyes were better than one.

He nearly missed what Amelia and Erica were talking about. "Excuse me?" he said.

"I was just asking Missus Galatei if she was missing her cloak," Amelia said. "She said she left it somewhere about a week ago, and hasn't be able to track it down."

"Oh. No clue where?"

"Somewhere in town when I was off running errands. It was cool in the morning, but it warmed up quickly. I must have left it one of the places I stopped."

"I don't suppose you were visiting Leigh Halimeda or Claire Sholei?" Zelgadis asked. Amelia gave him a quizzical look.

"Both of them, in fact. I had some of Miss Halimeda's water stones to pick up, and ran into Miss Sholei getting the mail, and she invited me back for tea. Why do you ask?"

"Just something I was thinking about," Zelgadis said.

"We probably should leave you to your rest, Missus Galatei. Let's go, Mister Zelgadis." Amelia took his arm, leading him away.

As they quietly headed up the stairs, Amelia asked, "What was that about? Surely you don't suspect..."

"Yes, I _do_ suspect Leigh and the priestess," Zelgadis said. "Though at this point, I'm pretty much grasping at straws here until we get a motive, so I'm suspecting everyone who doesn't have an alibi. They're at the top of the list only because I want to rule out the known sorceresses first." He opened the door to their room. "I'll wait outside until you change."

"Thank you Mister Zelgadis," Amelia said as she entered. "I won't take long. You look like you need to dry off as well. You'll get sick if you stay in wet clothing for long."

Zelgadis nodded. His clothing was already doing that unpleasant thing where it started to cling and get caught on the various stones jutting out of his skin. Not to mention that it was damp and clammy, and he was starting to feel very cold.

Amelia was thankfully quick with her changing. "Your turn," she said, taking a position outside. Amelia had changed into her pajamas -- a not-so-subtle sign that she wasn't going out again tonight.

Zelgadis managed to find his own pajamas, folded at the foot of his bed, and a spare set of clothing. He quickly stripped, hanging his wet clothing over the line they had strung up.

He reached for his pajamas, then hesitated. Unlike Amelia, he wanted to keep working and find out who was behind this. They'd finally gotten a couple of leads, even if they were tenuous ones. _Someone_ had wanted to pin this on the Galateis, just like someone had tried to set up Leigh Halimeda. Whoever it was, she was covering her tracks well enough that half the town could be a suspect if Zelgadis didn't find the real culprit quickly.

 _You're getting far too involved in this, Zelgadis_. He was surprised how much the problem had drawn him in. It was becoming a matter of pride, not just a favor for Amelia. Which reminded him, Amelia was still waiting outside while he was standing around thinking in his underwear. He looked at both bundles of clothing, and chose the pajamas. No one would be up at this hour anyway, and he didn't want to head out into the rain again. Especially without his cloak.

Once he was finished dressing, and had wiped down his hair and skin with a towel, he called to Amelia, "You can come back in now."

He was seated on his bed, and had left the curtain between their sides of the room open. They needed the line for drying clothing, anyway. The used towels went below it, soaking up the dripping water before it made puddles on the floor. Are you heading to bed?" Amelia asked, looking at the lit candle on the nightstand.

"Not quite yet. I think we should talk to Miss Halimedia and Priestess Sholei tomorrow. Ask for alibis."

"You really _do_ think one of them did it, don't you, Mister Zelgadis?" Amelia asked, sitting on her bed, facing him.

He didn't add 'or both'. "Unless there's someone else in the town that looks enough like them that a wig would fool Urice, and is hiding her magic."

"But why?" Amelia asked. "I know Miss Halimeda, and she's been one of the strongest supporters of this project. And Miss Sholei's a priestess. How could she condone this kind of slander and injustice?"

"I've met plenty of sorcerers and priests who say one thing and do another," Zelgadis said. "But, honestly, I _don't_ know why. And maybe it _is_ someone else, and we're back to the beginning with nothing to show for it."

Amelia sighed. "I suppose so. I just wish things were simpler. Life would be a lot easier if it was like it was in the storybooks and plays. The heroes could just ride into town on their white horses and find the bad guys, and bring them to justice. Or the clever detective can just _look_ at the scene and put the clues together that everyone missed."

"If it was that simple, most of the people probably wouldn't be here. A lot of them probably did some nasty things to make a living. You can't be too choosy when you're not human, and those stories aren't too kind to the villain's minions," Zelgadis said, glancing at Amelia out of the corner of his eye. He was slightly curious how Amelia would react to that.

"I... I suppose not." Amelia said. "I never thought what the bad guys' armies thought, you know? It makes a lot of those old war stories a bit more depressing. That's awfully thoughtful of you, Mister Zelgadis."

He shrugged. "Not especially. I've done mercenary work myself, and worked with a lot of beastmen when I was short of money looking for my cure. Not so many other chimera. I tried to avoid working for sorcerers after Rezo, and most chimera don't survive the deaths of their creators. You get to know a few decent sorts, and a few jerks, and a lot of people that just blur together. Like all people, really."

"It's still a very decent thing to say," Amelia said.

Zelgadis didn't say anything. _I really wish she wouldn't give me those noble motives_. But, he wasn't sure what to do about it, besides suddenly start acting like a jerk just to disabuse Amelia of the notion that he was secretly a nice guy. Which wasn't that helpful.

Amelia yawned. "I'm going to go to bed now, Mister Zelgadis. Blow out the candle when you go to bed."

"I probably should get some sleep as well. Good night, Amelia."

She slid into bed. "'Night, Mister Zelgadis."


	4. Chapter 4

The weather had cleared up by the next day, though it was noticeably cooler. There were thousands of little flowers in the grass outside that weren't there yesterday, and grasshoppers and butterflies and other sorts of bugs flew around them, making buggy sounds that mixed with the birdsong of the little brown birds perched on the grass stalks. It was a beautiful day, and it was almost a shame she and Zelgadis would have to spend it working, Amelia thought.

But, the sooner they could get things wrapped up, the sooner there would be time for walking through the grasslands around here and just talking. Or, more likely, heading back to the capital for more paperwork and meetings and brushing off courtiers.

Zelgadis had suggested that she talk to Sholei, while he found Halimeda. 'You know Miss Halimeda better, so it's probably a good idea to get a fresh set of eyes on her. Ask Priestess Sholei about the cloak, and where she was last night. And try to get a better idea of what she's like'. That and the presence of Halimeda's assistant meant that Zelgadis wouldn't have to deal with another human out to be hostile to him because he was a chimera.

She knocked on the door to Sholei's house. No answer. "Miss Sholei? Are you there?"

Amelia had just reached the point of wondering if it would be just to just barge in, in case Sholei was in trouble or something, when the door opened. "I'm dreadfully sorry, Your Highness." Sholei looked tired, despite it being well into mid-morning. There were dark circles around her eyes, and her clothing looked mussed and wrung out, like it had gotten wet and dried while she was still wearing it, rather than being left up to dry. "I was out late last night."

Bingo! "I'm sorry to hear that, Miss Sholei. There was quite a storm last night. What happened?"

"Oh, just a couple of house calls to some of the far-flung farms. Truthfully, it probably could have waited until morning, but the farmers didn't know that. The storm caught me off-guard, and I ended up spending the night at the last house. I did hear I ended up missing Missus Galatei's accident because of it. You caught me as I was heading out." She frowned. "Will this take long?"

"Not long, Miss Sholei."

Sholei still looked worried. "As you say, Your Highness, but I may have to take my leave if it does, begging your pardon. Won't you come in?"

"Of course. I was trained as a priestess myself, so I know how it is." Amelia stepped inside her home. The front room was pretty sparsely decorated. Perhaps Sholei didn't have many guests, or she had been too busy to fill in the empty spaces of the room. Or maybe she liked simplicity. A curtain-covered door to the side presumably led into the town's temple next door, and another curtain probably lead to the kitchen. There was a set of cushions on the floor, presumably for seating, and a futon still left on the middle of the floor. "Only two rooms?" Amelia asked.

"I don't need much space, Your Highness. When I'm up, I'm working. If not, there's a place for me to sleep." Sholei grabbed the futon, starting to fold it to put it away. Amelia took the other side, helping the other woman.

"You must work hard," Amelia said.

"I like my job. And there's no shortage of things to do in town. Even if no one has injured himself, there's always need of a spare set of hands." Sholei took the folded futon from Amelia, and wrestled it back into the cabinet in the corner.

"I'd think that'd be a pretty lonely life," Amelia said. "Without making friends here, I mean. Are you planning on staying here long?"

"I go where I'm assigned. And I'm well acquainted with people. A healer is a welcome sight around here. Most people aren't used to having a priestess on call."

The whistle of the kettle sounded from the other room. "Oh, I forgot about the kettle!" Sholei said. "It's a good thing you kept me, Your Highness -- I might have gone off to the Galateis' without turning that off."

"Let me get that," Amelia said, starting towards the door.

"Princess, I couldn't ask you to do that. I can handle making tea. Would you like a cup?" Sholei asked.

"That would be lovely," Amelia said.

Sholei hurried into the other room, leaving Amelia alone. There wasn't much to look at in the room. The furniture -- the cushions, a small table, the futon, the cabinet -- was a bit foreign in design. Very well crafted, though, based on what limited knowledge she had on furniture. She examined the cutwork on the table, trying to place the design. Southern Elemekian, maybe, or one of their tributary states.

"I have the tea," Sholei came out again, holding a tray. She set it down on the table, and sat on one of the cushions.

"This is a lovely table, Miss Sholei."

The priestess nodded. "Family heirloom."

"Oh?" Amelia said. "It must be rough for you to be so far from your family. Where are they living now?"

"In Elemekia. Don't worry about me, Princess. I'm not exactly close to them. We had a bit of a disagreement before I came to Saillune for my priestess training."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I could do?"

Sholei shook her head. "It's a personal matter. It'll work itself out, sooner or later."

She took a sip of her tea. It was hot, almost unpleasantly so in the summer weather, unusually bitter, and was heavily spiced. She stirred it a bit with a spoon, and wondered if she could drop a small ice spell into it without offending her host. "Oh, Miss Sholei?" Amelia asked. "Missus Galatei was wondering if you had her cloak? She left it somewhere last week, and she asked me to ask around while I was in town." She took another drink of her tea. Definitely an acquired taste. Preferably with milk and honey to cut the bitterness.

"I'm sorry. I haven't seen it." Sholei stood up, taking a last drink of her tea. Amelia blinked. Her own tea was still hot, and over half full. Maybe Sholei had cast her own ice spell to cool the tea quickly. "I better get along to attend to her, though. She must be in terrible pain."

"Mister Astin gave her some herbs last night, but I think she'll appreciate seeing you." Amelia stood up as well. "Thank you for the tea, Miss Sholei. I'll be going now."

Well, hopefully Zelgadis had better luck. And hopefully she didn't miss anything obvious while asking questions.

* * *

"What do you mean she didn't come back?" Zelgadis looked at Donla, trying to figure out if she was lying. Nothing, which was nearly useless without some idea of Donla's personality.

"She didn't come back. She was caught out in the storm. She just _had_ to ride out last night to check the spells shoring up some of the gullies near the bluffs," Donla told him, rolling her eyes. "She probably spent the night at one of the farms out there. Again. She's been like this all spring."

 _Or she's our saboteur, and she fled_ , Zelgadis thought.

"You can come in and sit while you wait for her," Donla said. "I'm out of work until she gets back, so some company would be nice. Did you eat breakfast?"

"Yes, I ate before Amelia and I came into town." He could see what she knew, at least. Donla led him inside, sitting at one of the rickety chairs around the table. Zelgadis eased into the one next to her, testing its weight and putting his back to the wall, and giving him a clear view of the front door. "How long have you been Miss Halimeda's apprentice?"

"Since I came here. Leigh was pretty open about asking for people who knew a bit of magic. Most people didn't know enough to help. And everyone's too busy trying to make their own living to get the training." Donla chuckled. "I didn't really know what I was going to do here, so when Leigh offered to teach me how to help her, I agreed." She folded her hands in front of her. "Mind if I ask _you_ something, Mister Graywords?"

"You can _ask_ ," Zelgadis said gruffly. On the one hand, it would make her more opening to answering his questions. On the other, he hated answering questions about himself. Maybe he should have asked Amelia to handle this. Amelia was charming.

"How'd it happen?" Donla leaned forward, studying his face. He leaned back reflexively.

"How'd what happen?" he asked.

"You know, how'd you become a chimera?"

"Do you normally ask people that?" Zelgadis tried to keep from glaring at her.

"Actually, yes." Donla said. "Most people in town are beastmen or humans. There's only a handful of chimera -- me, Astin, a few others. And now Princess Amelia's investigator. So I'm kind of curious about the ones I do meet."

"I trusted someone I shouldn't have, and he did this to me so that he'd have a strong, smart, loyal servant. And as an experiment to see if he could," Zelgadis said simply. He didn't really want to get into the whole business with Rezo, since that would just lead to an argument on whether the Red Priest was as good as everyone said he was. Again.

"Oh." Donla said. "You're part demon too, right?" At his nod, she continued, "were you a spellcaster before it happened?"

"Some. I was more of a swordsman who knew a few useful spells." Before he'd become a chimera, Zolf had handled most of the magic their gang needed, and Rezo had been willing to provide healing... if you didn't mind the guilt of taking the priest away from his work.

"Noticed it helped your magic, too, didn't you?" Donla asked. "I wasn't much of an apprentice when I was human. When my first mentor suggested-"

"Wait a moment. You mean you _agreed_ to being a chimera?" Zelgadis nearly fell out of his chair.

"Well, yes. If it was a choice of being a cheesemonger's daughter who could barely use a light spell, and a great sorceress, then I guess I was willing to do whatever it took. Only, it didn't work; I'm better, but I'm still not very good at magic. Eventually my mentor was brought in by the city's Sorcerer's Guild for his experiments, and no one wanted to teach me any more. That was two years ago. Leigh's the first spellcaster who didn't turn me away."

"And you didn't think maybe it wasn't worth it?" Zelgadis asked.

"Not now that I have a teacher again."

"How can you say that?" Zelgadis asked. "You _know_ what it's like being a freak."

"I'm not a freak, Mister Graywords, no matter what other people say. I'm becoming what I want to be, a sorceress. If that's how you see yourself, it's no wonder you always look like you just sucked on a lemon."

"I do not look-" Zelgadis saw the door open and stood up as Leigh entered.

Her blue cape still folded like it was a bit damp, and she quickly hung it up on a hook besides the door, and her boots squelched as she walked over to the two of them. "Why, Mister Graywords, what brings you here, besides having a discussion with my apprentice loud enough to wake the Demon Lord in the North?" she asked.

He hadn't realized he'd been speaking so loud. "I wanted to ask you a couple of questions." He straightened his tunic, and tried to recover his dignity. It was too late to pretend that Donla hadn't hit a nerve when the'd been talking.

"Go ahead."

"I'll go start on work, okay?" Donla stood up herself, and went into the back room. Since she had just told Zelgadis she didn't have anything to do, he suspected it was a lie to get out of the room.

Zelgadis spared her a glance before starting his questions. "Where were you last night?"

"Out," Leigh said. "I had to make sure there wouldn't be flooding in the area. I saw the clouds rolling in, and I thought I had enough time to check everything before the rain started. Turns out I didn't."

"Alone?"

"My apprentice doesn't ride, so she couldn't keep up. I stayed with the Grants overnight, and surveyed the damage before coming back. This isn't the first time this has happened, so I assumed Donla would guess what happened."

"I see," Zelgadis said. He could check with the Grants later, but it still left time for her to be the person they saw last night, even if she had spent the night out there.

Leigh inclined her head. "Wasn't Urice's meeting last night? Did the suspect show?"

"Yes, but she evaded us. Have you seen Missus Galatei's cloak?"

"Hasn't she got it back yet?" Leigh frowned. "She left it around here a couple of days ago. I gave it to Claire Sholei to give it back to her."

"Really?" Zelgadis said. This was something they could check, even if it remained her word versus the priestess's.

"Yes, really," Leigh crossed her arms. "Why? Hasn't she got it yet?"

There was a knock at the door, then Amelia came flying in; not literally, thank heavens, but at a pace that made Zelgadis wonder if she was going to collide with something. "Hello!"

"Amelia," he said, "this is unusual. Weren't you-"

"I was," she confirmed. "When I was heading back, I noticed there was a crowd gathered at the stables. The new parts for the mill have come in."

* * *

Amelia had managed to make her way to the front of the crowd gathering at the mill, where Bartalan, and the miller were talking. Someone else, a very large, trollish-looking someone, was working in the background, removing the crates from the supply wagon that had brought them in. The horses had already been led off.

"How quickly can these parts go in?" the mayor asked.

"With both me and Astin working on it?" the miller -- Pol, that's what his name was, Amelia remembered -- said. "About a week. We can work through most of the day, but I wouldn't trust some of this at night. My night vision's not that bad, but this is fine work."

"What about candles or lanterns?" Bartalan crossed his arms.

"It's a fire hazard," Pol said. "It's probably safe, since we just had the rain, and we haven't been working in there a while, but the flour's pretty dry, and it tends to be a bit explosive in closed conditions."

"Explosive?" Amelia said. "I had no idea."

Pol nodded. "I don't allow candles or lanterns in the mill. Miss Halimeda and Miss Sholei had some light spells they were working on for us, but I didn't want to rush them. Most of their supplies go to getting the crops going."

"Well, if you and Mister Astin don't mind supervising into the night, I'm sure we can-" Bartalan stopped as Mister Zelgadis shook his head.

"Can we talk to you in private, Mayor, Mister Miller?" Zelgadis asked.

"About?" the mayor asked.

"Miss Sholei and Miss Halimeda," Zelgadis answered. "I'd rather not say anything in public, though."

"There's a room in one of the outbuildings we can use," Pol volunteered. He turned back towards the wagon and his assistant. "Astin, just keep unloading things, then wait until I come back, all right?"

Astin nodded, and went back to whatever he was doing, as Amelia, Zelgadis and the mayor followed the miller into a shed. Pol closed the door behind them, then turned to Zelgadis. "All right, what is it?"

"Yes, Mister Graywords, please go on," Bartalan said.

Zelgadis looked a shade uneasy, which surprised Amelia. Normally he was not one to let many emotions cross his features. Stony-faced, though she'd never say that to him aloud. "Well, last night, after Missus Galatei was injured, Amelia and I went to the stake-out as planned."

"And your suspect didn't show up?" Bartalan said.

"No, she did show up, and tried to fake us out by using Galatei's cloak as a disguise," Mister Zelgadis said. "We weren't able to get a good look at her, but she used a flight spell to escape."

"She was human then?" Bartalan said.

Amelia nodded. "I think so. Maybe a chimera, but definitely not a beastman. I'm sorry." Not that a beastman would be better. She wasn't sure what would, besides a mazoku.

Bartalan shook his head. "Either situation would be a problem," he agreed. "The real problem is that the town is divided between humans and non-humans."

"While it's possible someone else is a mage, I think we need to list Miss Sholei and Miss Halimeda as our primary suspects," Zelgadis said.

"Both were heavily screened before being assigned here, I assume?" Bartalan said.

Amelia found herself reddening. "Miss Halimeda wasn't. I think the Sorcerer's Guild just put out a call for any member who could learn the magic and was willing to move. The Temple did assign Miss Sholei here, but I don't know how much checking they did. I'd have to speak to the High Priest back in the capital."

"Screening them doesn't matter now that they're both here," Zelgadis said. "I want to keep both of them away from the mill."

"What about Miss Halimeda's apprentice?" Amelia asked suddenly. "She's also a magic user, and she could be mistaken for a human in the dark."

Pol shook his head. "She and Astin were out helping Missus Galatei. She has an alibi." He chuckled. "Astin told me all about it; boy's got quite a crush."

"Well, that's one person who we can rule out," Amelia said. Their saboteur seemed as focused on making sure no one could pin her down as to the sabotage itself.

"Do you think we should post guards at the mill?" Pol asked. "Astin and I can keep people away during the day if he's not busy on his own land, but last time the sabotage happened at night." He considered. "My eyes aren't what they used to be, but my night vision was the best in my company. But I also can't stay up all night."

"We can ask Missus Galatei," Amelia said with a smile. "Once her leg is mended, I mean."

"And anyone who has an alibi for either last night or the night of the sabotage," Mister Zelgadis said. "Preferably both, in case we have multiple saboteurs."

Amelia grimaced. She hadn't even thought of there being more than one person. "And we should avoid Miss Halimeda and Miss Sholei, obviously. But, it won't solve the problem, though," Amelia said. "Even if the mill is fixed, someone could break it again. Or something else. Until we catch our saboteur, things won't get better."

"It's worse than that, Your Highness." Bartalan gave them all a grave look. "The longer this remains unsolved, the worse things will get in the town. A lot of the human citizens are cool to me, and the beastmen I've spoken to are mixed between worried and angry. If this goes on much longer, some of the young people might try to find any sort of scapegoat. I was worried it would happen when you caught Urice, but Mister Graywords was quick-thinking about that. But if someone level-headed isn't there-" he shrugged.

"Things go up like a powder keg," Pol said. "Boom."

"Oh," Amelia frowned. "You think so?"

"You _yourself_ were telling me how sensitive this is," Zelgadis said. "Hell, even if we find the right person, we might have to work to make sure the town knows it's not some vast conspiracy against humans, or beastmen, or whoever."

"And what if it _is_ a conspiracy?" Amelia asked. It was a horrible thought, but... well, she read a lot of books.

He gave her a grim smile. "Then we improvise. And then you go home to dig out this conspiracy by the roots."

Amelia wondered what he'd be doing while she did that. "I'm not going to lie to people, Mister Zelgadis. They deserve to know the truth of what's happening here. They can't learn to trust each other and become a town if people keep lying to them."

"I didn't ask you to lie," Zelgadis said. "You're a politician, Amelia. Going to be a leader, a queen, probably. You'll have to figure out what to tell them that both lets you sleep at night, and keeps things from turning nasty."

Amelia looked at Bartalan, who was also nodding. She sighed. "Let's deal with this problem first. Then, I _will_ make sure Justice is done. For everyone. How do we lure our saboteur out?"

"She might want to attack the mill again?" Pol suggested. "Before Astin and I repair it."

"But she won't attack when it's guarded," Zelgadis said. "Unless... she seems really interested in framing others for what she's doing. What if we gave her either the ultimate chance, or the ultimate frame?" He grinned like the cat that ate the canary, and started to outline a plan. Amelia had just one change to suggest.

"You're kidding me, right?" Zelgadis said, staring at Amelia.

"It makes the plan a lot more flexible," Amelia said. "And easier to control."

He crossed his arms. "No. The plan as written."

"Stop being so stubborn, Mister Zelgadis."

"If you think it's such a good idea, why don't _you_ do it?"

"Because you'd be more convincing."

"You'll have to order me to. Because I won't do it willingly."

Amelia crossed her arms. "Don't make me do that, Mister Zelgadis! I don't want you to force you to do it."

"No," he said. "You just want to talk me into it, and possibly bully me into it."

Bartalan watched the exchange. "Do you get the feeling that we're missing out on some context?" he asked Pol.

"Something like that," the foxman agreed.

"Mister Zelgadis," Bartalan cleared his throat. "I would appreciate you taking such a risk to protect one of the citizens of our town."

Zelgadis looked away from his argument with her. Amelia tried to look mature and regal, like the way a queen should look, instead of like she was going to throw a tantrum. She honestly didn't see what the big deal was, but, if he was really so against it, she really _didn't_ want to force her friend.

On the other hand, he was technically currently employed by Saillune, which made her able to give him orders.

On the _other_ other hand, she had put him in charge of the investigation. Which meant trusting his judgement. Even if he was doing this because he didn't like part of her plan. "Mister Zelgadis?" she asked. "If it didn't involve you personally, would you take my modification?"

He looked at Bartalan and Pol, as if he didn't want to admit he would take a risk to avoid personal discomfort. "It would depend," he said. "I don't think it would fool our target. If I was convinced it would, then, yes, it would be the better plan."

She smiled. "We'll just have to rehearse both ways, and make the call before we put it into action."

They did end up going with her variant, much to Zelgadis's grudging acceptance.


	5. Chapter 5

Night had fallen hours ago, and Amelia's legs were starting to cramp as she, Bartalan, and Pol sat in their lookout place high in the mill rafters. They were being silent, which made it hard to stay awake, despite the coffee... and the bathroom breaks before they started their stakeout. Amelia stifled a yawn, and looked down from their observation spot.

Outside the mill, the guard, wearing a hooded cloak against the chill, was pacing around, a light spell clearly visible. Mister Pol had posted the schedule himself, and it was common knowledge who was on duty. Donla Savarnla had guard shift until midnight, when she would be replaced by Rian yas Galatei, who had taken his wife's injury personally and volunteered for as many shifts as Mister Pol would give him.

Amelia had expected something to happen before midnight. After all, Donla was Halimeda's apprentice. Either Halimeda could use Donla as a pawn, or someone else could use the opportunity to frame Halimeda. But, from the town's small bell, it was almost midnight. If something was going to happen, it better happen soon.

Amelia saw another light approach along the mill path. She peered into the darkness, trying to see if Galatei had come early, but the person's face was too far away to make out. Or maybe it was just too dark. She glanced at Pol, who had better eyes than her. He shook his head; it wasn't Galatei.

 _Things are starting then_. Amelia leaned forward to watch. The figure was wearing a light-colored cloak, approached the guard, waving. The guard turned towards the newcomer.

The newcomer dashed forward, touching the guard, who fell, light spell extinguished. Amelia was nearly certain she caught the sparkle of a Mono Bolt discharging and she winced a bit. She stood up from their hiding place, and Bartalan had to tug on her cape or she might have been seen against the sky. He made a 'wait and see' gesture.

Amelia continued watching. If the newcomer, the saboteur, turned to check the fallen guard, they could be in a lot of trouble. But the newcomer just held her hand to the door for a moment -- casting an unlock spell, no doubt -- and entered the mill. The guard lay still until the door closed, then carefully stood up. "It worked!" Amelia whispered. "Come on."

* * *

Thankfully, the saboteur hadn't spoken to him, Zelgadis mused. While he could pass for Donla in low light and with Amelia's make-up assistance, he had never managed a good falsetto. Imitating a specific woman was right out.

The upside was he had remained conscious, despite a Mono Bolt spell that would have knocked out anyone who wasn't part golem -- that part of the plan had worked. The downside was, he hadn't gotten a good look at the saboteur; only enough to see that she had worn a light blue cloak, one very much like Leigh's.

He pulled himself to his feet, trying to move quickly in the strange clothing and extra padding that had shifted when he fell, and followed his attacker into the mill.

He entered the mill, and quickly head over to the storage room where Pol had stored the parts they had yet to finish installing. They had practiced so much that he could find his way in the dark. As he opened the door, the saboteur, bent over the remaining boxes, turned to face him. "You're not Donla," she said.

"And you're not Leigh Halimeda," Zelgadis replied. "I never would have known you were a criminal, Priestess Sholei."

"And, I never would have pegged you as a crossdresser, Mister Graywords." Claire Sholei's face was clearly visible by the glow of her own light spell. She shifted into what Zelgadis recognized as a typical sorcerer's combat stance -- ready to dodge enemy spells.

Zelgadis felt his face redden. "Whatever it takes," he said, quickly. Claire would have to get past him to get out of the room. "What do you hope to gain by escaping?" he asked. Hopefully, she would be the sort who could get drawn into a villainous monologue. It would certainly make finding any co-conspirators easier, or he could just get the jump on her while she was busy explaining how beastmen killed her cat when she was five.

"Ever here of a little country called Jarei, Mister Graywords?" Claire asked, feinting to the left, and moving to launch a spell.

Zelgadis cursed under his breath as he recognized what Claire was chanting under her breath. If what Pol had told him was true, one spark could send the whole place up. Stupid mill. " _Freeze Arrow_ ," he quickly fired off, cutting a fire spell off before it could form. "Does it have anything to do with you trying to blow us both up?" he asked. Jarei _did_ sound familiar.... wait a moment, it was the place that the sorcerer back at Atlas City was from. A little tributary of Elemekia, somewhere near here.

Claire smiled. "Something like that," she said. "It means I have no interest in seeing Saillune settle out here as well. Human, beastman, chimera -- it doesn't matter what they are."

 _Save me from crazy patriots_. At least Amelia's brand of justice-obsession was only mildly crazy. "You won't do them any good if you're dead, Sholei," Zelgadis said, trying to close to use the same Mono Bolt spell she had tried to use on him.

"I won't do them any good in prison, either," Claire said slipping past him. For a priestess, she sure was agile on her feet. "And it's Kilarei sim Sholeiba."

Zelgadis sighed. Damn her, she had managed to turn halfway around, nearly getting a clear break at the door. "I don't care if you're calling yourself Princess of the Moon Kingdom," he growled. Bursting a hole in the mill wouldn't be appreciated by the town, though it would make his life a lot easier. " _Bomb di Wind_." At leas the wind spell would force her against the wall, and possibly knock the breath out of her enough so he could grab her.

Or she could use the momentum of the wind spell to go sailing through the door. Zelgadis cursed again, dashing out into the main mill room with his light spell leading the way.

He shouldn't have worried. Amelia had managed to use the same burst of wind as a boost to tackle the incoming Sholei. "Nice tackle, Amelia."

"Thank you, Mister Zelgadis." Amelia beamed at him.

Behind her, he saw the mayor, the miller and Rian yas Galatei. "Did you get all that?" he said, looking around. Two humans, two beastmen and a chimera had heard the confession; that should settle all but the most fanatic conspiracy theorist. "Here's your saboteur. Her reasons had nothing to do with humans, beastmen or chimera. Just politics."

* * *

To His Royal Highness Crown Prince Philionel el de Saillune and His Highness Prince Christopher ul Bromell Saillune

From Zelgadis Graywords

Dear sirs,

Here are my findings in the case of crimes of property against the citizens of the town of Redcliffe and surrounding environs.

The priestess in the town of Redcliffe, Claire Sholei, also known as Kilarei sim Sholeiba, was the saboteur. Her family was originally from Jarei, which is a tributary of the Elemekian Empire in the southeast. It seems her plan was to create unrest in Saillune enough to cause the southern settlements to fail. She refused to name any co-conspirators, but I wouldn't dismiss any that are out there.

I assume you two will pass this on to whoever needs to know.

\-- Yours sincerely,

Zelgadis Graywords

* * *

He would pretty up the draft later. Zelgadis saw a shadow fall across the paper. He put down his pen, and turned to look at the source. "Hello, Amelia."

"You're writing to Daddy about this, aren't you?" she said. She had gone back to their room as soon as Claire had been captured, leaving him to finish up the investigation. She looked like she had just gotten up, hours after her normal wake-up time. Her eyes were still half-closed and her clothing was rumpled, like she had changed quickly. All very much unlike her.

"Well, I am a Royal Investigator," Zelgadis said. "If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right. Plus as soon as Prince Phil gets this report, I'm done."

Amelia nodded. "Are you upset I asked you to do this?"

Zelgadis considered this, then shook his head. "No. It was... strangely satisfying, having a real problem I could solve quickly. Refreshing, really." Not like researching when one didn't know if the answer was even written down, that was. Or like lessons, where everything came together in a neat little package that never would happen in the real world. Perhaps, instead of going back to Atlas City he could pick up freelance magic again. It would probably be just as useful, and less frustrating. Zelgadis Graywords, wizard investigator for hire. It had a certain ring to it.

"I'm glad you got something out of it, Mister Zelgadis," Amelia smiled at him, but the smile wasn't quite reaching her eyes, which still looked tired and worried.

"How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Sleep?" Amelia looked a bit confused by the seeming non-sequitur. "Oh, I slept fine."

Zelgadis sighed. "Liar."

"Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia crossed her arms and glared at him. It would have been more effective if she didn't have to stop to yawn first. He raised his brow. "Well," she added, "Maybe not fine."

"You were asleep when I got up," he said.

"Kind of," she said, sitting down next to him. "I couldn't stay asleep. I mean, I'm happy that there isn't a standing argument between the chimera and beastmen and humans... is there?"

Zelgadis shook his head. "Not that I know of." Thankfully, the attack on Erica yas Galatei, and attempt to frame Leigh Halimeda had made sure that the local non-humans didn't think that Claire Sholei was a plant. Having the mayor and Pol around to back up the story helped. He had made sure that Bartalan had been present when he talked to Claire after her capture, just to be sure that whatever the town heard would be correct. That and the intimidation value of a large bearman couldn't be discounted. _Careful, Zelgadis, she'll turn you into a politician yet._

Amelia nodded. "Good. But, everyone is talking about Jarei, aren't they?"

"Yep." The town _was_ no longer divided... but mostly because they now had a common enemy of the foreign kind. In particular, Rian yas Galatei was rather vocal about 'the Jarei problem', and some of the former beastman mercenaries -- people who he'd never give the time of day before -- were listening to him. Politics made strange bedfellows indeed.

"I wanted everyone to pull together and live as one community," Amelia said, sinking down in her chair, and burying her head in her hands. "I didn't want them to do so out of xenophobia."

"People aren't as altruistic as you think they are, Amelia," Zelgadis said. "You gave them a lot more credit then they deserve." He wanted to comfort her, but he thought she had enough comforting stories from her father and his rose-tinted view of the world.

"I know, I know," Amelia said.

"But, you really can't control what other countries do," Zelgadis said. "You didn't send a spy and saboteur into Jarei, did you?"

"Of course not!" Amelia said, nearly jumping out of her chair. "Saillune doesn't spy on people! Besides that, our treaties with the Elemekian Empire asks us to officially negotiate with all of their tributary states through their capital. We don't even have an embassy in Jarei."

"So, it's not like you could control what other nations think of you," Zelgadis said. _Or even predict it, if their intelligence is that bad_. He wondered if Saillune even had someone on their payroll in Jarei that Amelia and Phil didn't know about. It would be what he'd do, after all.

"And Archamage Awel seemed so nice when we spoke in Atlas City," Amelia said. "Why would he invite me to Jarei when they were just going to cause trouble for us?"

"Misdirection, maybe," Zelgadis said. "Or a classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing."

"You know, if I were to take up his invitation, it wouldn't be officially negotiating," Amelia said. "It would just be paying a personal visit to the King of Jarei."

"Elemekia might not see it like that," Zelgadis said, amazed at how Amelia could go from being straightforward to her first attempts at deviousness. Politics might get to her yet. In a way that still kept her as... well, as Amelia.

"Elemekia will get the official complaint about this," Amelia added. "I have to do something about this, though. I can't just leave the situation well enough alone."

Zelgadis made a note to amend his letter, hoping that Prince Phil and Christopher could talk some sense into Amelia. Otherwise, it looked like he would be charging off into another adventure with her. He certainly wasn't going to watch her go into a possibly-hostile foreign country without offering to watch her back.

And the Mage's Guild and his classes could just go hang.


End file.
